I agree with Liz that the issue of copyright is a moral one. I think, if we were all honest to ourselves, we would admit that, if we were the ones who had drawn up the pattern for "that mat" or created anything else, such as a book, we would not be very happy if someone else reproduced our work without giving us our due acknowledgement. And in the case of books of patterns, the "acknowledgement" we give the author is our payment for the book...not that authors make much money, but the money *is* some form of recognition of all their work.
The other legal issue a lot of us conveniently forget is that of computer programmes. As most of you know, I run the Australian (and elsewhere!) help desk for a well known lace design programme. All the work I do is voluntary, I don't sell the programme, and I don't benefit from sales of the programme. However, I was angry, very angry in fact, last year when I heard of a lady who'd borrowed her teacher's copy of the programme to instal on her computer. She then ordered a copy of my book so that she could learn how to use it. I was very tactful in what I said, but I did point out that she'd broken the law in "borrowing" her copy of the programme. Her justification was: "I'm a pensioner and I can't afford the money to buy it". My reaction was .. tough luck! So, a lot of us are pensioners. Being a pensioner doesn't make it right to steal. I felt like asking this lady whether she also stole her meat from the butchers, her groceries from the shop, and her books from the bookshop because she was a pensioner. I'll get off *my* soapbox now, and go and hang the washing on the line!! Regards, Ruth Budge (Sydney, Australia) [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:Spiders, I hopw that Christine Springett won't sue me over copyright if I quote out of her book - Snakes Galore but her caveat is as follows: "You are welcome to photocoy these patterns to make your pricking and to sell the snakes you make as fund-raiser for charity but I would ask you to respect my copyright by not passing on these photocopies to other lacemakers, ... we would welcome the opportunity to send your friends or students their own personal copy!" I think this is one of the nicest ways of saying - don't STEAL. Here's a thought ... in Judaism there are a set of laws call Lashon Hara - which basically cover 'bad mouthing' people. Why is this such an issue - because if you repeat bad press about someone or say something nasty you steal their reputation. I believe that stealing someone's thoughts is just as bad - but when you photocopy a pattern you have done just that. I'm off to play with my chutney now Liz http://search.yahoo.com.au - Yahoo! Search - Looking for more? Try the new Yahoo! Search - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
