So, today....I logged on to YouTube to listen to my playlist while I'm working (my daily routine) and I saw the thumbnail of this video below and decided to "listen" to the info (she doesn't show her face or any "how-to" so nothing really to watch). The topic she discussed was something that I've always wondered about since I've become a "beader".
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
dunnnnnn da da dun dun.....
I've downloaded tons of patterns and tutorials over the internet and from magazines. I've learned numerous techniques from youtube videos and I've bought a couple pattern books (needless to say, which are pretty darn expensive) and took a class or two at my local beading store. Now, don't get me wrong it's not every time....but most times, I have seen these "copyright" disclosures or some kind of blurb to say...
"....this pattern/tutorial/instructional, blah blah blah...belongs to so-n-so...do not recreate...duplicate...copy...blah blah blah..."You've seen these before, right?
So I've always wondered...."How am I suppose to make anything, if I can't duplicate or copy the patterned piece"? I'm sure they're just talking about physically reproducing the written pattern instructions or downloading and redistributing a video....but wouldn't that cover the actual completed piece of jewelry too? Isn't that what the pattern or tutorial is for? Hmmm....am I breaking the law here? It just didn't make sense to me. If you teach me how to make something, however many times I make it...and after I've bought my own supplies, how can there be copyright of what I do .....or if you're using a pretty basic intermingle of beading techniques that everyone knows....can it really belong to one person?
I would NEVER NEVER recreate exactly, to the last wire or smallest bead, a design that another jewelry maker has done without properly noting where I got the pattern or by mentioning the inspiration if it VERY closely resembles another's work. It's just fair and I would want someone to do the same for me, if they were heavily inspired by something I've done. It's just the RIGHT thing to do.
I've wondered about this, too, Joye. I'm a writer, and it seems more obvious in that field if a copyright is infringed. But in something like beading, where we're changing things here and there, what constitutes a copyright violation? I listened to that video partway through the other day and came away with questions, too. To be on the safe side, I usually say in my description whether a piece was inspired by someone else's IF I think mine is clearly recognizable as being very similar to that person's design. Of course, lots of us come up with the same or similar design ideas. In the Bead Star magazine edition two years ago, I saw a winning necklace design that looked very much like what I had made and sold on Etsy several months earlier. But, honestly, with the types of bead and wire used, I believe that two people could have come up with very similar designs independently.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I have a very dear dear friend that makes jewelry as well and lives on the other side of the country. She and I usually purchase the same beads. Although, our design aesthetic is very different, it's quite possible that at some point, we will create something very similar without a clue. I did make an earring/necklace set once that was very inspired by some of the work that she's done but I definitely made sure that people knew where I got the inspiration. I don't think there's anything wrong with heavily inspired work or "copying" a design. It's just wrong when people don't acknowledge the inspiration...and as passionate as I feel about giving credit where it's due, I just don't think there's a way to copyright most designs.
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