What do you think of this?

[Gardener]

Last week a fellow Ravelry member informed me that one of my patterns appears on a blog, attributed to someone else. It isn't worded exactly like my pattern, but the stitch counts are identical and the wording is similar. The end result is exactly like mine. (although I have to admit that she is a much better photographer, and maybe a better crocheter as well!) I don't really care that much about this, since it is just a simple dishcloth pattern, and I'm willing to assume that it is possible for someone else to write a pattern that similar to mine.

 

However, I emailed the blog author anyhow and got a reply from her that since someone else's name is on the pattern as the designer, that makes it okay. Alright, this made me a little angry,but I am willing to let it go. (well actually, I was able to think of quite a few snarky comments, but I restrained myself to simply replying that if her conscience wasn't troubled, I would respect her decision to ignore my claim.)

 

However, I took a longer look at this blog and quite a few of the patterns on it are from other sites. I recognized some of them by the pictures which are simply copied from elsewhere. It doesn't say that they are published there with permission of the designer or the website where they originated, and in most cases the designer isn't listed, giving the impression that the blogs author is the designer.

 

I don't plan to become the blog police, and I don't know if there is anything legally wrong with this, but it most certainly is not ethical. This particularly bothers me because this is a charity blog, and it seems to me that this detracts from that purpose. I would think that some designers would be willing to have their free patterns appear on such a site, especially if they got credit.

 

Just wondering what other views on this are. __________________

[Amy]

Most dishcloths are fairly simple designs, such that it's very possible that different people could come up with similar designs. If she's not using your pictures, and the wording is different, it would be very difficult to prove that copyright infringement was occurring. (Unless this is some very unique dishcloth.)

 

It is copyright infringement to post copyrighted patterns and photos on a blog without permission of the copyright holders. Failure to give credit to the original sources would also be considered plagiariam.

 

If anyone is able to figure out which blog is in question here, I am going to ask that you NOT post the link to the blog or post any information that will help people find it. We can discuss this issue in general terms, though.