A Knitter's Approach to Copyright

Since I have only designed one thing in my knitting career, 99.9% of the items I knit are from another designer's pattern.  They've come from magazines, books, Ravelry, other blogs, Reddit, and pamphlets.  But regardless of where they're published, most of the patterns I use have a copyright notice that I have to pay attention to, especially because I intend to sell a lot of my knit goods.  So what do knitters need to know about copyrights?

Knitty.com has a great laymen's guide to copyright for knitters that explains the basics.  Knitters have to be aware that copyright can apply to an entire written pattern including charts and instructions, stitch patterns, photos in a pattern, and knit goods that come from patterns.  Knitty's conclusion is that it's best to ask the copyright owner if you have any question about your usage.

A lot of knitters disagree on the matter.  Copyright can be really hard to enforce, especially when it comes to the gray area surrounding the sale of knit goods.  A designer would have to be particularly litigious, really adamant about the use of their patterns, for a knitter to see any consequences from infringement.  As such, a lot of knitters don't worry about copyright issues.

Honestly, I wish I could be one of those knitters.  There are a lot of pretty patterns out there that I want to make and would like to sell, but I hate the idea of stepping on another crafter's toes.  These designers have been kind enough to put their work out into the world (many of them for free), and I want to reward their kindness by actually paying attention to their wishes.  So I look for a copyright notice on every pattern I consider.  I think of copyright notices in three categories that I call restrictive, optional, and permissive.

Restrictive copyright notices retain all rights for the designer.  These designers are clear about their work being for personal use only.  I would not use patterns with these copyright notices for selling items:

• Copyright 2011.  All rights reserved.
• For personal, non-commercial use only.

Optional copyright notices are a little less definite.  You may or may not be allowed to use that pattern, and the only way to find out is to ask.  If I see something like this, I'll contact the designer for permission:

• Pattern and images © 2013
• No copyright notice

Permissive copyright notices, god bless them, are when designers specifically say that they don't mind their work being used for commercial purposes:

• Written pattern copyright 2012. Please do not reprint or repost this pattern, but please feel free to link to this page to share this pattern with others. You are welcome to sell items made from this pattern, but please link back to [the designer] with credit for the design on the listing or tag.
• "Please link this pattern to your listing if you do plan to sell from it."

Most often, permissive copyrights include a little request from the designer that you link back to their pattern so that they get credit for the design.  That's the type of copyright notice I chose for my Refreeze pattern because I want credit for the design but don't mind if people sell their items.  

There's a lot of wiggle room in knitting copyright, a lot of gray area to sludge through.  I just try to do what feels right, give credit where credit is due, and knit the things that make me happy.