My boys are very excited about Halloween. It's not a big deal here in South Africa - you may have one or two kiddos knocking on the door hoping for candy. I think the appeal for Robert and Matthew is the boyish fascination with bugs, monsters and all that spooky stuff.

With this in mind, the guys helped me design our latest in-the-hoop project - Fungus Scarymungus. He's actually not that scary at all. Fungus has a big wacky grin and googly eyes. He loves cuddles and is looking for a new best friend.



Fungus is available at a special intro price until 31 Oct '09.

Hugs,
Anne

I was recently asked by a member of the 2011 Festival Committee for SAQG to provide some input on copyright and specifically how it relates to the issue of machine embroidery designs used for quilts. So here goes ..

Quilters are familiar with copyright laws and understand that a copyrighted quilt design may not be reproduced, distributed, performed, publicly displayed, or made into a derivative work without the permission of the copyright owner. What you produce must be something uniquely yours.

Furthermore acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission.

So without going into an extensive discussion, there are already very clear rules in place relating to the design, production, sale and display of quilts and quilting designs.

Machine embroidery designs are subject to similar stringent copyright legislation. Each digitiser will have their own set of terms and conditions but generally speaking the following applies to all purchased or free machine embroidery designs:

"All designs are licensed for the original customer use only. You cannot sell, trade, copy, loan, transfer or in any way duplicate the design software (digitized design file) in any part or whole without violating copyright law. "

What does that mean?

With embroidery designs, you are purchasing a license to use the designs subject to certain limitations specified by the seller. Just like purchasing a licence to use Microsoft Windows on your computer.

You can make a back-up copy of the embroidery designs purchased as a safe-guard in the event of computer failure, but you are not allowed to distribute copies of the designs to a friend, neighbour or embroidery club member, without violating the licence agreement. Such actions are liable for prosecution.

Furthermore the purchaser may not duplicate any part of the design software, i.e. the digitised design. So you may not dissect the design with your embroidery software and use portions on its own or combined with other digitised files and call this your new creation.

Why? Because every keystroke or digitised stitch in the original design is subject to copyright legislation and forms part of the digitiser's original artistic work.

Then there's the issue of proper use of the purchased designs. For example, may the designs be used on a quilt entered into a competition? In this instance, I would suggest that written permission is obtained from the digitiser. As I mentioned before, acknowledging the source is nice but does not mean you have their permission.

Most digitisers aren't too concerned if you change the colors recommended for the purchased designs or even the size of the overall design (again, check with the digitiser first), but what are the legal options available to the creative quilter eager to produce something new and exciting with machine embroidery design elements?

If the Guild stipulates that the machine embroidery designs must be unique, there are two options that immediately spring to mind

1. Learn how to digitise and create your own designs, or
2. Have the designs digitised for you by a professional

In both instances you will have to ensure that the artwork used for the designs is either your own or licensed for digitising purposes.

Just one last issue that has come to my attention recently - the business of registering copyrights. Copyright protection is in effect the moment the artistic work is created and formal registration is not always a requirement for protecting the artist's rights.

Furthermore if a quilter or digitiser registers a copyright it does not automatically prove that the material is theirs. You have to be the rightful owner of the original work in order to enjoy the benefits of copyright protection. If someone has claimed to hold the rights to materials which aren't theirs, they could be charged with copyright fraud which is a criminal offence.

Just my ten cents on the subject ... rather follow the rules and be confident that your quilt isn't disqualified or worse if you haven't paid attention to copyright laws.

Hugs,
Anne

Dear Friends

It's really good to be back in the digitising seat and doing what I love. I had to spend so much time recently trying to get this crazy person to quit her stealing again and hopefully she's learnt her lesson .. well, we'll see!

Anyway, our darling Molly Dolly now has her first accessory set - the diaper bag! Please pop by and have a look - it's really cute and a must have for the little Moms. Although the diaper bag set was designed with Molly in mind, it can be used for store-bought baby dolls too.




Have a great weekend!
Hugs, Anne