049. Quilting and Copyright with Elizabeth Townsend Gard

Hello my quilting friends! Today I'm chatting with Elizabeth Townsend Gard about quilting and copyright.

Check out Just Wanna Quilt, Elizabeth's podcast about the quilting industry and intellectual property right here: https://www.justwannaquilt.com/

I have long felt that copyright and quilting is a tricky subject. On the one hand we have a huge range of public domain quilt blocks and patterns. Basically if your great grandma was piecing log cabin blocks, chances are her great grandma was too.

On the other hand many designers struggle to sell patterns because quilters copy and share them rather then purchasing their own copy. It's one thing for a log cabin block to be in the public domain, but the pattern itself - the cut sizes and the words used to describe how to piece that particular quilt are the property of the designer.

In the podcast we discussed a specific issue that happened recently with a private Facebook group. The members of the group were copying patterns and quilting books and intentionally covering up or removing the attribution and the information about the authors.

I think it's safe to say that most people know this is 100% wrong. I also think it's safe to say that most quilters want to support the designers that they love.

Elizabeth Townsend GardBut there also seems to be a good bit of fear in the quilting design community from accidentally designing a pattern to similar to someone else. When do you have to ask permission to make your own version of a quilt? When do you have to ask permission to use a tool or machine or gadget?

I've now listened to several of Elizabeth's episodes from Just Wanna Quilt and I love hearing abou the quilting industry from many different perspectives. I have my own little snapshot of what the industry is based on my experience working online and teaching, but that's a very different perspective from a fabric manufacturer in New York or a quilt shop owner in Utah.

This is exactly Elizabeth's goal - to create a picture of the quilting industry by talking to as many different people at she can. That includes designers, quilting teachers, fabric manufacturers, and hobby quilters too!

If you like to be on the Just Wanna Quilt podcast, please get in touch with Elizabeth and share your thoughts on quilting.

Find the Just Wanna Quilt Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/justwannaquilt/

Find the podcast on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1341376118