REGARDING FREE PATTERNS FROM ANNIE'S ATTIC

[Julie]

DO NOT ask for copies of the free patterns (a day) from Annie's Attic. These patterns have copyrights which are held by Annie's Attic and they have every right to control these copyrights. The patterns are offered for 24 hours for free on their website.

CROCHETVILLE CANNOT BE USED AS A SOURCE FOR DISTRIBUTING THESE PATTERNS!!


Any post found which requests a member to copy these patterns will be removed. Any post found in which a member offers to share a copy of a pattern will be removed. I do not want to hear from Annie's Attic that our members have violated copyright on these patterns. It has been brought to my attention that Annie's Attic is aware that this has happened on this and other sites.

[Everyday Crochet]

Understood. I kind of thought that was the case which is why I posted what I did. Too bad that she wasn't able to get in and grab the pattern before it changed.

Well... now we know that the patterns change at midnight eastren time.

Thanks for staying on top of things and thanks to the mods for all the work they do in protecting this site and its members.

[Julie]

Thanks Theresa! :hug

[Pink]

Good call, Julie.

[HappyknitandcrochetFreak]

This is so important !

Thank you for bringing this up Julie:clap

Hugs from Monica in Norway:wcold

[maryann]

I called AA today because I wanted to know about this copywrite thing.. it just seemed to me that once it was on the net.. even for one day you would be allowed to share it.. Lets face it.. once it is on the net.. it is out there.. The lady I talked to said there was no problem sharing it as long as you didn't copywrite it..I guess that means taking credit for it? I guess I should have asked more questions.. but I think they know that once it is on there(net) people are going to share it..

[AmyS]

I called AA today because I wanted to know about this copywrite thing.. it just seemed to me that once it was on the net.. even for one day you would be allowed to share it.. Lets face it.. once it is on the net.. it is out there.. The lady I talked to said there was no problem sharing it as long as you didn't copywrite it..I guess that means taking credit for it? I guess I should have asked more questions.. but I think they know that once it is on there(net) people are going to share it..

Actually, when a company posts something like this on their website, it is usually with the intent of driving more traffic to their website. They hope that when you visit to check out the free pattern, you'll stick around long to enough to visit more of their site, and hopefully place an order for other things or decide to go purchase some of their products at your local store.

Email responses from Annie's Attic have been freely circulated (with their permission) on some other crochet email lists I'm part of. Annie's Attic has been very explicit that they do not want people sharing these patterns by sending copies of them to others. You may share the pattern by giving others the LINK to the free pattern, but they do not want you printing copies, emailing copies, or distributing the pattern in any way other than simply by providing the link. Of course, that link is only good for the one 24-hour period the pattern is on the site.

Thank you, Julie and the other mods, for all the work you do to make sure everyone here is respectful of copyright laws. I work for an internet-based company that has experienced lots of other companies in our industry violating our copyright by using text and graphics from our website without our permission. When these companies have failed to respond to my requests that they remove material from their sites that clearly violates our copyright, I have had to contact their internet service providers and ask that THEY remove the offending material in compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This has always resulted in instant compliance and removal of our copyrighted material. It is very frustrating to see other companies deliberately violating our copyrights, and I hate having to spend my time making sure others obey the law when that time could be better spent elsewhere within my job duties.

[threeolivemartini]

the point is Maryann.. its not up for debate.. so just dont do it ..

[Julie]

Crochetville cannot be used as a source of distribution for copyrighted patterns that we or our members do not hold the copyright for. Period. Granted, I am not a copyright attorney and I don't pretend to be, but I know I don't want to hear from one regarding the legalities of our members sharing patterns we or they do not hold the copyright for. Period.

Until Annie's Attic posts a statement on their website that says, "Go for it guys, make thousands of copies and share it with your friends as much as you want!", or something along those lines, I'm not going to allow posts that ask for copies to be made or shared. Period.

[beachlady]

Julie, I agree with you on pattern sharring, but one thing I have not ever understood, many many many times on this site, I have seen people state "this is their orginal pattern" etc, when in fact, it is not, I have seen or even on several occassion made it from the paid for pattern I purchased, Liesure arts, etc, how and why do they get away with it. Just because they change colors, or size,should not make a difference. So why are they not stopped. Just wondering.

[Julie]

For starters, I'm not the pattern police. It isn't possible for us to know stitch by stitch and detail by detail if a pattern is the exact replica of one already published. There have been times in the past where this has been called into question and we have taken the appropriate action. However, for the most part, unless it is something that has obviously been taken stitch for stitch, it is up to the designer of the pattern to determine if a pattern has been duplicated and re-claimed as original.

This is really a different issue entirely from the point of this post. If you see something you have a question about, either contact the original designer of the pattern or the person who has posted it and privately address your concerns to them. Once again, I am not a copyright attorney and am not going to pretend to understand all the fine points of the law. If there is a question as to the originality of a pattern, it's for someone more knowledgeable than I to determine.

Let me state, however, that if it is something we can verify, the appropriate actions to possibly remove the posts in question will be taken.

[crochetqueen]

For some really good solid, give you a bunch of answers regarding copyrights, please see the current issue : Winter 2005/06 Vogue Knitting International. Page 40, A Matter of Principle. It is written by an intellectual property attorney and even though it is about knitting, it can be applied to crochet.