A couple of things... the first is that the pricking published by Ruth Bean is not the original but an adaptation by Anne Buck of the original. Perhaps she can have some influence on the possibility of republishing the pricking? Does anyone know when Ruth Bean Publishers started in business? If it was after 1949, there may be some question as to their right to hold a copyright that legally belongs to the heirs of Miss Channer until the year 2019.
Second, this is a sterling example of the flaw in the ridiculous length of copyright duration. Catherine Channer died in 1949 and Ruth Bean Publications is sitting on her work, making it unavailable to those Miss Channer devoted her time and talents to during her lifetime! Those of us who are designing need to consider what will happen to our own work after we are no longer around to control it. A greedy (or uncaring) publisher or uncaring (or hateful) relative could bury our work in much the same way as Miss Channer's work is being buried... for nearly 3/4 of a century after we die, or longer if a corporation can get hold of the copyright! I appreciate Vivienne and other's wish to make a fair return on their work and I would never advocate copying a *living* author's work, but for heaven's sake do you really want your *legacy* consigned to obscurity at the whim of someone else? That is really what is being discussed here. Consider Sr. Judith who is well over 80 years old... she has designed nearly every scrap of Withof on the planet. What will happen to her work when she passes (God willing she lives in health many more years)? Will Withof simply disappear with her? Pattern Book 7 is already rare as hen's teeth and not being printed, and IMHO it contains some of her best work. I don't have a copy and it's unlikely I'll ever be able to get one from bookfinder.com or ebay at any price. Lacemakers 50 - 70 years from now certainly won't. Realizing that there is little we can do against the battalions of lawyers and piles of bucks corporations like Disney use to drive the copyright laws further and further out of the realm of common sense, it is still a travesty that an important work like Miss Channer's Mat will be allowed to languish for so long. When Miss Channer died, what was the expected length of her copyright and what has it ended up as years later? Even if she had thought about this at all, how could she know what would happen? Do *we* even know where this will end? Since the copyright on Mickey Mouse hasn't expired yet the length of time could be extended many more times. With the advent of DVD-based movies and music, there will be even more pressure to extend the duration copyrights. Sorry to go on so, but this is one of my "soapboxes". (For non-Americans, the term "soapbox" comes from a time when people would stand on a soapbox (or other such wooden box) in a public place and cry out their personal message to the world.) Marcie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
