A copyright question

[HomekeepingGran]

I am pretty ignorant about copyright law but I know some of you are as well-versed as I am dumb. What happens to a copyright when a magazine ceases to be published? There are a number of crochet magazines which are no longer in existence, so where does their old copyright stand? I'm curious about this type of thing and I want to follow the law but don't always know what it is.

[Pyroteca]

My understanding is that the copyright will survive the demise of the magazine, particularly since the magazine may not hold the copyright but rather the individual designer may hold the copyright to the pattern.

 

My general rule of thumb as to copyright is to be very careful since the laws are really cracking down on copyright abuse. That being said, it would depend on what you wanted to do with the patterns as to whether you would be violating any copyright issues.

 

Hope that helps.

[Amy]

I am pretty ignorant about copyright law but I know some of you are as well-versed as I am dumb. What happens to a copyright when a magazine ceases to be published? There are a number of crochet magazines which are no longer in existence, so where does their old copyright stand? I'm curious about this type of thing and I want to follow the law but don't always know what it is.

 

Copyright protection does not end just because a book or magazine is no longer in print and does not necessarily end just because a company is no longer operational. For example, if a larger company owned the company that produced the magazine, even after the magazine company stops operating, the parent company would retain full rights to all intellectual property (copyrights, trademarks, patents, etc.) owned by the magazine company.

 

Crochetville's guidelines are a bit easier to understand than copyright law: If you do not own the copyright to a pattern, and you do not have proof that the pattern is in the public domain (example: patterns published before 1923), then do not share that pattern with others.

 

Points to remember: something is not in the public domain just because it is posted on the internet somewhere. Something is not in the public domain just because a book or magazine is out of print.

[wheat]

As I understood your question, it was asking "what happens",

 

Amy gave you really good information, but I thought it might also be helpful to know just a few of the situations that may be "part" of your answer and that often "misunderstood" or in some cases, used to rationalize infringement.

 

In many cases the copyrights may 'return' to the Designer who can then use them for other purposes,

 

perhaps as complimentary offerings to give you a reason to visit their website and see their "for sale" work -

 

or to expand the pattern (those in magazines are often limited or condensed to fit the space available) to give you a pattern with more ideas and information.

 

Partial rights may return to the original Pattern Author, but the way it was presented remains the property of whomever owns the rights to the publication

 

Of course, EVEN when the rights return to the designer, it may not be "as published" but as submitted - so it can be "less than straight forward".

 

My personal rule of thumb?

 

If all you did was "reverse engineer" or make a derivative by changing a few things, then it is not your work - no matter what you "read on the Internet" - that is still infringement or to use a harsher, tell it as it really is word, stealing.

 

IF your instructions did not start with a piece of yarn, a hook and a blank piece of paper, then it is not your original.

 

Thank you for caring enough to ask the questions, believe me when I say that the return for pattern authoring is not really enough for most to make a living without doing "other things" - so your respect of their rights is always appreciated by those who give of themselves so we can enjoy their inspiration.

 

HTH

 

Wheat

.

[HomekeepingGran]

All of your answers do help. After I got off the computer last night it occurred to me that the copyright was probably retained by the parent corporation if that corporation still existed. I guess I never thought about the designer retaining those rights but assumed she sold her rights to the magazine when she sold the design and that was that. However you say her rights return to her when the magazine dies, Wheat? Interesting.

 

Now why is 1923 a magic year, Amy?

 

I have a friend who has stacks and stacks of defunct crochet magazines, but I guess I'll try to buy my own old copies instead of borrowing hers. Thank you so much, ladies, for jumping in to help me understand the laws.

[Krakovianka]

Borrowing isn't copyright infringement, although making copies of the patterns would be.

 

I'm not sure why they picked 1923--possibly some copyright legislation was passed that year--but it's just the way the law is written--most material published before that date is in the public domain (there may be exceptions where someone extended a copyright).

[Amy]

All of your answers do help. After I got off the computer last night it occurred to me that the copyright was probably retained by the parent corporation if that corporation still existed. I guess I never thought about the designer retaining those rights but assumed she sold her rights to the magazine when she sold the design and that was that. However you say her rights return to her when the magazine dies, Wheat? Interesting.

 

Now why is 1923 a magic year, Amy?

 

I have a friend who has stacks and stacks of defunct crochet magazines, but I guess I'll try to buy my own old copies instead of borrowing hers. Thank you so much, ladies, for jumping in to help me understand the laws.

 

Whether or not rights return to a designer after a publishing company is no longer in existence is a tricky question to figure out the answer to. A lot depends on the wording of the contract the designer signed. The contract may have stated that all rights would return to the designer after XXX amount of time. The contract may have stated that the publisher owned al rights and they would never transfer back to the designer. Without seeing the contract, we don't know what the terms of the contract were. So it's always safest to assume something is still under copyright protection, unless you have solid proof to the contrary.

 

As far as 1923 being a "magic" year, that's just the way US copywrite law was written at the time. For all items copyrighted prior to 1923, the length of copyright protection in place by law at the time the item was copyrighted has lapsed, and no laws were passed extending the length of any of those copyrights, so those items are now in the public domain.

 

For more information on copyright and when and how things enter the public domain, please visit the US Copyright Office website.

 

You can still borrow your friend's original copyrighted patterns, just like you could at a library. While you're in possession of her original, you can even make xeroxed copies as working copies, that you can carry around with you and mark up, if you don't want to take the original pattern with you. But when you give the original back to your friend, you'd need to either give your working copies to her or destroy them. You wouldn't be able to keep the copies for use at a later time.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Disclaimer: Remember, I'm not an attorney. I'm just sharing my opinions based on lengthy conversations with Crochetville's intellectual property attorneys. If anyone ever needs actual legal advice pertaining to a copyright question, please seek the advice of an attorney licensed to practice in your state, preferably one who specializes in intellectual property. Even better is one who specializes in fiber-arts-related intellectual property, but those are sort of hard to come by!

[Amy]

One more thing: the information I've posted applied to US copyright law. Copyright laws may be different in other countries. Some countries have less or more restrictive laws than we do regarding things published in their countries.

 

But we have reciprocal arrangements with many countries, meaning we will uphold their copyright laws if a foreign copyright is infringed upon in the US and they will uphold our laws if a US copyright is infringed upon in their country. Of course, finding the money to fight something out in court is a whole separate matter!

[HomekeepingGran]

Okaaayyyy... further explanation helps. I think I will still gradually put together a supply of defunct crochet magazines but borrowing from June would be such a help. Maybe I could look through hers and take note of issues I am interested in so I can search out those particular ones for myself later.

 

Thank you again, Amy and Karen.

[Amy]

Carla, you're welcome! It's always good to have your own stash of old magazines in case the itch to crochet hits in the middle of the night. Your friend might not appreciate a call at 2:00 in the morning asking her to bring over some of her old magazines!

[HomekeepingGran]

While we go to the same church she lives 17 miles in one direction and I live 15 miles in another! I don't think we'll be dropping in on each other at 2 a.m., LOL! (Man, that WOULD be a strong itch to crochet!)

[HomekeepingGran]

It's me again with yet another question. Sorry, but I am curious about how all these laws work. What about sites like Celt's Vintage Crochet? Christine Anderson is providing patterns later than the 1923 date given earlier. Crochet Pattern Central links to these patterns and many other later-date vintage patterns so I know there must be some explanation but again, I'm dumb. (I apparently live in the State of Confusion instead of Texas, LOL.)

 

You guys are going to kick me off C'ville for bugging you too much. Just tell me and I will back off.

[Amy]

It's me again with yet another question. Sorry, but I am curious about how all these laws work. What about sites like Celt's Vintage Crochet? Christine Anderson is providing patterns later than the 1923 date given earlier. Crochet Pattern Central links to these patterns and many other later-date vintage patterns so I know there must be some explanation but again, I'm dumb. (I apparently live in the State of Confusion instead of Texas, LOL.)

 

You guys are going to kick me off C'ville for bugging you too much. Just tell me and I will back off.

 

Everything published before 1923 has definitely entered the public domain. SOME things published after 1923 have already entered the public domain depending on laws in place at the time and whether copyrights were renewed. This is how Celt's Vintage Crochet can publish those patterns. Christine may have also obtained copyrights herself to some of the patterns or have received permission from the copyright holder to post them. To the best of my knowledge, that site does everything possible to respect copyright laws.

 

If somebody wants to distribute something published after 1923, they have to do a lot of research through the copyright renewal records of the US Copyright Office to verify that a copyright was not renewed and that something has officially moved into the public domain.

 

EDIT TO CLARIFY: The above paragraph applies to some items for which the original term of copyright expired, but additional copyright coverage would be granted if the copyright were renewed. If the copyright on those items was not renewed, they are now in the public domain. If the copyright was renewed, they are still subject to copyright protection.

[Krakovianka]

Prior to a 1970's date (or possibly 1983--I get mixed up and have to look it up again), only things that were officially "published" (various definitions of this) and *registered* were copyright-protected, and those were required to show the copyright symbol (which I can't figure out how to show here, but you know what it looks like).

 

Coats and Clark published those patterns mostly as an incentive to get folks to buy thread. It is possible that they never took the trouble of registering copyrights on them (just speculating--I don't know), in which case they were never copyrighted (which doesn't mean someone else can claim the copyrights now). The concept of automatic copyright protection without registration or publication did not enter the US law until the 1980's. That's why you have to do a lot of research to figure out what the status of any given item might be.

[wheat]

 

If somebody wants to distribute something published after 1923, they have to do a lot of research through the copyright renewal records of the US Copyright Office to verify that a copyright was not renewed and that something has officially moved into the public domain.

 

That is not correct. It is *not currently* required that an original work be registered with the Copyright office in order to be legally protected.

 

Just as improper use is still improper use for "free patterns" - Copyright is about the author's rights to decide if, where and when their work may be offered.

 

I would suggest that anyone who intends to use possibly protected works should consult with an attorney familiar with current laws.

 

The best advice I can give anyone is

 

If you are not absolutely positively certain the LAST date of publication was prior to 1928

 

(ever wonder why Disney brings things out of the vault and re-releases)

 

then the ethical thing to do is assume the pattern is protected and

 

Sit down with Hook, Yarn, and Pen and a blank piece of paper an write your own instructions, create your own model/sample, and sleep better at night.

 

Once again, thank you for carrying enough to ask these questions - it really is appreciated when folks respect the rights and resources offered by the pattern authoring community.

 

HTH

 

Wheat

[Amy]

That is not correct. It is *not currently* required that an original work be registered with the Copyright office in order to be legally protected.

 

 

I've clarified my original post to more accurately convey what I meant to say.

 

The copyright for SOME items published after 1923 has expired. If those copyrights were not renewed, then they are in the public domain. If they were renewed, they are still subject to copyright protection.

 

That's why research is necessary if you want to distribute any copyrighted pattern published after the years in which everything published prior to that year is considered to be in the public domain.

 

As always, the US Copyright Office has all the details about specific dates and everything.

 

Wheat is correct that patterns currently being published are automatically protected by copyright law.

[HomekeepingGran]

Again, thank you for your responses, Amy, Karen and Wheat. You ladies seem pretty up on what is happening. It seems that everytime I bug you with a question, the picture becomes a little clearer and fuller. I am glad to have you knowledgable people to ask. You know, I took a peek at the US Copyright Office website and concluded that although it has a search function, I was not going to readily come up with the correct key phrases to look up what I wanted. I abandoned it pretty fast. Maybe that was too fast and I should have been more patient, but I don't understand legalese well anyway. Your explanations are very helpful and to the point.

 

(The one thing I can do is type out a copyright symbol — © — the only thing I know about in this discussion. To do it hold the Alt key and on the number pad to the right of your keyboard, press 169 while holding Alt. This I learned at a job I had. You can do all sorts of things with Alt and that number pad.)