Jewelry and Copyright
November 17, 2006 by Tammy Powley
Filed under General Jewelry Musings
I may be opening a can of worms here, but I had someone ask me the other day to create a specific type of jewelry project for this blog, and she mentioned that she’d prefer it to be copyright free. As someone who is not normally a jewelry maker, she had no clue about the can and worms of which I speak. Her thoughts were that she wanted to be able to replicate the design for her own needs and maybe as a gift since the holidays are coming up.
I realized after emailing her back and forth about this that many newbies into the world of jewelry making probably also don’t understand the worms and can when it comes to beadwork or other forms of jewelry making. This is especially true if you’ve done any kind of web surfing and seen jewelry makers posts things like “These are copyrighted designs! Don’t steal them!”
So, here are my thoughts on the issue of copyright and beading and jewelry, and of course, I’m not a lawyer or copyright expert, just a jewelry designer:
- When in doubt, ask. If you want to copy a design and aren’t sure if it’s okay, ask the designer before you do it. In some cases, it may be okay depending on your purpose and the project. For example, obviously I write about how to make jewelry so that others can make jewelry, and I do expect them to copy my projects for their own personal use. Otherwise, why would I post “how-to” projects?
- Remember the web is a form of media, like a magazine, so when it’s posted on the Internet it is “published,” and therefore, it should be treated the same as something you saw in a hardcopy magazine. Just because you get to view it for free doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want with it.
- Most designs have been done, redone, rehashed, whatever you want to call it. I am very sceptical of anyone who claims he or she as “invented” a totally, never done before, one of a kind, 100% original jewelry design. So, get over yourself already.
- On that note, don’t freak if you suspect someone has “borrowed” a design. First of all, if they really did take it, then it’s obvious they have no design skills and while you’ll go off and design tons more jewelry pieces, they’ll still be out there copying others’ work. Plus, really, how much money is someone going to make from your brilliance?
- Give recognition when it’s due. For example, say you are part of a bead group and you want to teach them a project you found off of my About.com Jewelry Making site. Mary, Beth, and Gail aren’t web savvy, so you need to print up instructions for them and others in the group. Be honest about where the project came from. Don’t copy and paste the text into a Word file and had it out as if it’s your own work. Print it off so the URL is visible and explain where the project came from.
I’m going to stop there – for now – as I think about this some more. But, now the can is wide open! The worms are squirming around my beads. So, go ahead let it rip (in a very nice, mature, open-minded way).
I agree pretty much with your assessment here, Tammy. Stitches are not “copyright-able”, but the exact way that a piece is put together is. And the written instructions that we publish, whether on line, in a magazine, or in a book, certainly are our intellectual property.
That said though, there is pretty much nothing new under the sun. Every now and again a designer will come up with something so astounding new and different that is just takes my breath away. But most of the time, my awe is inspired by how they use the same set of techniques that I do, and do it *so* much better than I do!
I have a question about copyright. Let’s say a pair of earrings calls for a peridot bead, and someone remakes the earrings exactly- except they use an amethyst bead and sells them. Legally, is that stealing?
This has been on my mind. I am going to have some projects published for the first time, and they all come out within the next two weeks. I don’t know what to expect, but I am excited!
Cyndi – I totally agree with you. I find it kind of funny in a way that people get so worked up about something when it’s all be hashed and rehashed.
Cynthia – I’m no legal expert, but from what I’ve read on this subject, the design would require significant changes to it. That said, when you put your work out there you must expect someone to copy it. It’s just going to happen, but that can be a good thing if you really want to teach people. At least that’s MHO.
I know that crochet designers really have a lot of trouble with this. (By the way, I never learned how to crochet, so don’t expect any patterns from me.)
I tend to not stress too much. For one thing, it is amazing how many times I’ve come up with a completely new, awesome idea and then discovered that someone else has written up the same thing at almost the same time, probably because he or she found inspiration in the same place! For another, people have been copying each other since they lived in caves (Seriously, those cave drawings all look the same.) and I doubt we can make them stop now.
Thanks for your input, Tammy! Your last couple of entries have shed a lot of light on some questions going through my mind.