1. What is Crochet Partners' copyright policy?
Do not post copyrighted patterns. Do not ask for or offer copies of patterns that are copyrighted. Such posting or transmitting will result in immediate removal from the list.

There are two reasons for this rule:

The legal ramifications are great. Hefty fines and punishments have been lodged against listowners and their internet service providers who have allowed the posting of copyright protected material. We are not willing to chance the loss of the Crochet Partners' mailing list and take on the money damages caused by copyright infringement. And our service providers would not, and rightfully should not, support us for allowing it.

We are here to support each other, our art and our industry. And that means, allowing those that design to continue to design and be paid for it; allowing the publishers to find in us the skills and desires to continue to provide them with an outlet to publish good books and magazines; and to allow the artform to grow and not become something that has succumbed to the industrial age and become forgotten.

We are not intellectual property attorneys, and present the following information in good faith only.

2. What does Copyright mean?

Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of "original works of authorship" including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:

To reproduce the copyrighted work in copies of any type.

To prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;

To distribute copies  of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership. 

3. How Long Protection Lasts

Works Originally Created On or After January 1, 1978

A work that is created  on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation, and is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author's life, plus an additional 50 years after the author's death.

Works Originally Created Before January 1, 1978, But Not Published or Registered by That Date

Works that were created but not published or registered for copyright before January 1, 1978, have been automatically brought under the statute and are now given Federal copyright protection. The duration of copyright in these works will generally be computed in the same way as for works created on or after January 1, 1978: the life-plus-50 or 75/100-year terms will apply to them as well. The law provides that in no case will the term of copyright for works in this category expire before December 31, 2002, and for works published on or before December 31, 2002, the term of copyright will not expire before December 31, 2027.

Works Originally Created and Published or Registered Before January 1, 1978

Under the law in effect before 1978, copyright was secured either on the date a work was published or on the date of registration if the work was registered in unpublished form. In either case, the copyright endured for a first term of 28 years from the date it was secured. During the last (28th) year of the first term, the copyright was eligible for renewal. The current copyright law has extended the renewal term from 28 to 47 years for copyrights that were subsisting on January 1, 1978, making these works eligible for a total term of protection of 75 years.

4. Your Rights Are Limited

When you purchase or are given a copyrighted pattern or book, your rights in it are strictly limited to ownership of that particular copy.  You cannot legally make copies of the work or parts of the work and sell or give them to others. You cannot legally scan photos or artwork from the work and post it anywhere on the internet.  You cannot legally make projects from instructions in the copyrighted work and sell them, without permission from the copyright holder, unless this permission is granted in the publication.You can, however, give, sell  or lend the original publication which  you acquired.

5. Legal Repercussions

Copyright violation is rampant on the internet.  But don't think that the violaters are all getting away with it.  Publishers are actively going after the violaters and many are having to pay hefty fines.