- copyright

"Thank You, Thank You Very Much"

rebecca@theanticraft.com (Rebecca Garcia) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:33:54 -0700

I quote Elvis because I am almost speechless.

(Well, almost. I'll bet I can write a lot, after all.) (Well, there's a lot to say!)

Seriously, thank you! I never expected so much great conversation to errupt because of my post last week. It seems many of you had a similar experience to Xan's hurtful "Oh, I can make that" earful. And some of you disagreed. How awesome is that! Thank you all for your comments. I hope I didn't miss any. I really appreciate all of your insights and experiences, and I am very grateful that you all took the time to share.

So here are two things that I have learned as a result of that experience.

The first is simply practical, and entirely to do with the event itself.

Find out specifically what type of event it is, and who your customers are. Determine what the traffic is looking for ahead of time, and bring in quantity only what they will actually buy. Anything more will be a waste of time and energy. If your gut tells you to grab a sample for display, go for it, but it may not need to be on prominent display. Let the venue and the crowd determine that once you have arrived and felt out the day, space, and crowd. Be aware that all 3 can change at a moment's notice, especially if it's outdoors!

That all seems like a no-brainer. I have to tell you, that stuff up there didn't actually occur to me until after the event. It's easy to think of things like bringing a cash box, pens, clipboard, extra chairs, display hardware, even a hammer and 2 types of screwdriver. The previous paragraph reminders may save you more heartache, though because you can't borrow them from the site or other vendors. Some of you out there are experienced craft-fair-vendors, some of you are not. Take this as it applies to you. And please, anyone with wisdom to add, we all welcome your additional advice.

Here's the second thing. Be aware of your legal rights according to Copyright Law. That sounds boring and complicated. I've been reading the most appallingly sleep-assisting documents, and believe me, it Copyright Law is crushingly boring and insanely complex. That's why people go to law school for it. (Well, not if they think it's boring. I expect they find it somewhat gripping if they're willing to invest tens of thousands of dollars a year for at least 3 years -- gaahhhhh!!!! -- to study that... but I'm not exaggerating the complexity! At least language-wise.) The link above is marvelously illuminating. It really helps. These are, by the way, laws according to the United States, and the 10 Myths are generally on a federal level, so there are other, further breakdowns that can have a more localized affect according to state laws.

Just so we're clear, because I had to learn this too -- and it took quite a bit of searching for me to be secure in the correctness of my answer (at first I thought art/craft was covered by Trademark; depends...): works of art/craft are covered under Copyright Laws; read about it in "A Brief Intro to Copyright".

Stealing someone's fully fledged idea out from underneath them is technically stealing, according to U.S. law as described in the 10 Myths, but in the scope of our use, rarely a prosecutable offense. Complicatedly, this makes it more of a moral dillemma. Which makes it more arguable than anything else, I suppose, depending on your view of morality and what you consider stealing, making this an even more interesting conversation. I don't believe we'll find any answers here, but I'm glad we are talking about it.

Talking about it, while it makes an excellent debate, won't solve the world's problems, but that's not why we're here. We're here to make art and expand our skills. Learn new things. Push the boundaries. Share some ideas. If questioning whether something is truly original gets you hung up, take a deep breath, work on something else for a bit (or go for a walk), and then, probably when you get back, I'll just bet you've got something that's tweaked that "something" into "something better".

If not, remember this.

Elvis was a singer, not a songwriter. He sang other people's songs. Someitmes songs were written for him, but most often they were written for others; generally the songs were whatever Colonel Parker thought would make the Colonel a wealthy man. (Oh, and if it kicked a few bucks Elvis' way, that wouldn't hurt, either. Which they did.) What most of his contemporary fans didn't know was that to become the great performer he was (and he WAS legendary), Elvis was standing on the shoulders of dozens of great black singers who came before him, doing exactly the same thing they did, just those other performers were black and couldn't get radio play on the big stations or weren't welcome on the stages Elvis could play on. So he wasn't original. But he followed his heart, and that was wise. We still call him The King.

There was another wise man, another king, another man of fact and legend, except this one did a bunch of writing. He wrote over and over and over in his very best known collection of wise sayings (the Book of Ecclesiastes), "There is nothing new under the sun." That wise man, that king, was Solomon, a man so great he is revered in three of the world's great religions (Solomon/Schlomo/Suleiman, depending upon which of the Abrahamic faiths called upon). In fact, this Great King is even deeply-admired outside of the scope of faith, and across world geography, a trait Solomon and Elvis have in common. That phrase, flowing out of his fingers, reads almost as a mantra, perhaps even as a punctuation mark. It's one of the truest things ever written. Solomon/Schlomo/Suleiman may have written it, but I wonder who said it first...

Remember that, follow your heart, and be at peace with what emerges from your creativity.

-->rebecca.

Copyright Loser, Part 2

zabet@theanticraft.com (Zabet Stewart) — Tue, 22 May 2007 07:44:11 -0700

Allllrighty. Let's pick up where we left off.

1. What is copyright?
2. What is copyrightable?
3. How do you copyright something? Don't you have to register? What about the ©?
4. What's the difference between a trademark and copyright?
5. How do you share copyright?
6. Are there non-licensed, legal uses of someone else's copyrighted work?
7. How does copyright apply to crafting?
8. What is The AntiCraft's copyright policy?
9. What about projects from books?
10. Resources

6. Are there non-licensed, legal uses of someone else's copyrighted work?
Yes, it's called Fair Use, but it is quite limited. You may use portions of someone's work if you are reviewing/critiquing that work (such as quotes in a book review). You may use portions of someone's work if you are making a parody or satire. (Gods bless Weird Al.) You may use portions of someone's work if you work in education and are using the work as instructional materials. (This last use is very popular, and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act severely hampered teachers. Since then the TEACH Act has been enacted to help loosen up the DMCA for educators.)

Rule of thumb for the non-lawyer population: Just assume you can't use it unless you made it yourself or have gotten express permission.

7. How does copyright apply to crafting?
With craft it's trickier, especially since ideas can't be copyrighted. The craft community thrives on inspiration and derivative works. As soon as you say, "You may make this item but you must make it EXACTLY and never use anything you thought of while making it when making something else," the entire point of crafting it is dead. This is why every craft project site out there will have a page devoted to the legalities of what you can and cannot do with their patterns - they are giving you a license and defining the terms. Please read those legal pages when you go to craft sites! They don't write those things just to watch the pretty characters appear on the screen.

8. What is The AntiCraft's copyright policy?
We don't hold any copyrights to any of the projects. This site is copyrighted as far as the design and the code goes, but the copyright to the projects themselves still reside with the original designer. When a designer agrees to let us publish a project, they are licensing us to distribute their copyrighted work. When a crafter comes to our site, they are granted a license by the designers, too. The terms of that license are defined on our legal page, and summarized below for convenience:

1. Free Personal Use:
a) You have the right to one copy of the project instructions.
b) You may not sell finished items or donate them to charity.
c) You may make derivative works from the project so long as you do not sell, trade, or publish your derivatives.

2. Distribution
a) You may not sell or give away copies of project instructions.

I know, you're now thinking, "WTF, can't donate finished items to charity?"

HERE'S THE THING: These are only the terms of the license you get from us. Every project has contact information for the designer at the bottom. You are free to contact the designer and negotiate a new license with them. Many designers would be happy to let your donate items made with their instructions to charity. Many designers would be happy to let you publish instructions for a derivative item on your blog so long as you attribute their instructions as their source. THE KEY IS TO ASK FOR PERMISSION.

Got that? ASK FOR PERMISSION.

PERMISSION. ASK FOR IT. Are we clear?

9. What about projects from books?
Books are licenses to use the projects within in much the same way - except that for some reason no one ever really defines the license the way they do on craft websites. This is a ridiculous practice, as you can't expect people to know what to do if you won't tell them what the boundaries are. Books involve large amounts of money (for both authors and publishers, though more for publishers as authors are notoriously underpaid unless they are Nora Roberts, Steven King, or John Grishim), therefore the publishing companies want to make the license as restrictive as possible. That's why they just slap a regular copyright notice on there and go on - they have the right to sell it to you, you have the right to own it, but that's all you're really supposed to do with it. I think it would help if crafting books would address copyright concerns the way websites do, but oh well.

10. Resources
I used the following resources in writing this, and would recommend them to anyone interested in copyright.

Copyright Website
http://www.benedict.com/

Copyright Website: Info
http://www.benedict.com/Info/Info.aspx

Creative Commons
http://creativecommons.org/

Creative Commons: Creative Commons Licenses
http://creativecommons.org/about/licenses/meet-the-licenses

Creative Commons: FAQ
http://wiki.creativecommons.org/FAQ

NB: The following resources are specifically about Canadian copyright, though US copyright is similar.

Girl From Auntie: Copyright for crafters
http://www.girlfromauntie.com/copyright/

Girl From Auntie: Copyright for crafters: Copyright basics
http://girlfromauntie.com/copyright/index.php/88/

Girl From Auntie: Copyright for crafters: Copyright FAQ
http://girlfromauntie.com/copyright/index.php/89/

Girl From Auntie: Copyright for crafters: Copyright Lite
http://girlfromauntie.com/copyright/index.php/90/

Copyright Loser, Part 1

zabet@theanticraft.com (Zabet Stewart) — Mon, 21 May 2007 10:14:25 -0700

Over the next couple of days I'll be posting about US Copyright and how it pertains to crafting. I'm trying to break it into manageable chunks, and I'm wishing like hell that this blog software had a cut tag feature. Alas. Alack. All parts to this will be tagged as "copyright" so that you can find them again later on if you need them.

So, remember when I decided to slog through the US Copyright Law document? Yeah, ok, I'll admit it. I didn't make it through the whole 230 pages. More like 50. At that point I started looking up stuff on the web where someone else would translate it into English for me. My Lawyerese is not so good.

I'll tell you what I know. I'll tell you how that applies to this site. And then I'll tell you my sources. Ok? Stick with me, it's long.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. This is not legal advice. Go find yourself a lawyer if you run into copyright problems. What I say pertains to the United States copyright law since that's where Renee and I live and work.

1. What is copyright?
2. What is copyrightable?
3. How do you copyright something? Don't you have to register? What about the ©?
4. What's the difference between a trademark and copyright?
5. How do you share copyright?
--to be addressed later--
6. Are there non-licensed, legal uses of someone else's copyrighted work?
7. How does copyright apply to crafting?
8. What is The AntiCraft's copyright policy?
9. What about projects from books?
10. Resources

1. What is copyright?
It's not a compound noun for nothing, folks. Copyright is having the right to make copies of something.

2. What is copyrightable?
Things in tangible format are copyrightable. (Text, obviously, but also video, music, design, etc.) Ideas are not copyrightable. So, I can say, "Hrm... I bet I could make a doll if I started with the basics of making a glove, but gave it two thumbs and only two fingers." But if I never write down the pattern for that doll, five people can then rush out and make up their own way to do it without infringing on anyone's rights. We can all even write patterns down and they will not be infringing on each other, so long as each person did their own work.

3. How do you copyright something? Don't you have to register? What about the ©?
In the U.S., thanks to the Copyright Act of 1976 (I believe, correct me if that's the wrong date), an item is copyrighted as soon as it is in tangible form. All the crappy poetry I wrote in high school? Copyrighted. The design for this website? Copyrighted. The code that makes this website run? Copyrighted. The text you're reading right this very second? Copyrighted! Damn, isn't that easy?

But here's the catch: If you do not register a copyright, you can't sue for damages. You can write C&D letters, and you can even take someone to court to have the court order them to C&D without registering, but you can't get money from the jerk who's been making money off your material. This makes registering very attractive, but it's a little expensive for your average Jane Crafter.

The C-in-circle copyright mark (©) is for letting others know that you have copyrighted a work and will be keeping an eye on it. The best way to format your copyright notice is like this:

So anything I want to mark with a copyright this year should look like this:

4. What's the difference between a trademark and copyright?
Compound noun, folks. A trademark is an identifying mark put on an item that is available for sale (trade). Copyright is having the right to make copies of something. Can a trademark be copyrighted? Maybe? It makes sense to me, but I'm not a lawyer and I never saw anything about this. Maybe Jenna (aka Girl From Auntie; see Resources) would know the answer to this.

5. How do you share copyright?
There are many ways to share copyright. First of all, you can straight out give or sell your copyright to someone else. When this happens, it's like signing away your parental rights. The new copyright holder can do anything with it that they please - publish it, sell it, give it away, change it, ignore it, line a birdcage with it.... you get the idea. Since money is usually involved (or the potential to make money), copyright owners are often loathe to transfer their rights to someone else. This brings us to the most popular way to share copyright: licensing.

Licenses allow a copyright owner to give temporary rights to their copyrighted material to other people. Licenses can be sold or given away freely. The copyright owner can specify which certain rights the licensee may use. For example, a copyright owner may allow you to distribute their work to anyone and via any medium so long as you agree to not charge for the work. If you begin to charge each person you give the work to so much as $0.01, you have violated the terms of the license and the owner can take legal action against you. (Refer back to #3 - if the copyright is not registered, the kind of legal action they can take is limited.)

If the copyright owner is not a large corporation, you'd be amazed to find how many owners will let your use their work if you just ask them first. It never hurts to ask. The worst they can do is say "no," and then you're no worse off than you were before.

Join me tomorrow for Part 2!