The Legal Beagle

ALL content of this workshop is a copyright of Nancy Tillberg 2002. All rights are reserved. Permission is granted for personal use of the pattern and information only. No reproduction, whether manually or electronically of the information contained herein is permitted. No copying or sale of the pattern or finished product is permitted without written consent from the author. Violations will be prosecuted.

"Ya, ya, ya, blah blah blah," you say.

Copyright info like what is printed above is so often overlooked in the world of arts and crafts. Who's going to catch you anyway? Or, just to be safe, maybe I'll change the pattern a little, and then I'll call it an original design. That should be ok, right? WRONG!

Read on...

A copyright gives the author of a work, exclusive rights for a limited period of time, over his efforts, to prevent others from taking the work and using it dishonestly. A copyright does not require any formality to exist. It is an automatic right of the author. A copyright exists if the author's name appears with the work. (Canadian Copyright Act Sec 53, 2.2) Using someone else's work without their permission, or signing your name to it, is called a copyright infringement, and is an offence by law. Sometimes an author will give up their copyright, and allow others to reproduce their designs, most often for personal use. Using these designs then is not an offence, but it also does not make the work original.

What if you take a pattern from a book or workshop and resize it, and then change the type of fur used, and the color of the eyes? Is it now original? No. The copyright act refers to this as a 'colourable imitation.' or, a work in which a person attempts to pass off as new, that which is only a reproduction of a substantial part of another work, by making alterations to the original. A colourable imitation, is an attempt to deceive others into thinking that the work is original, by making minor changes. Camouflaging, or modifying some one else's work and signing your name to it, therefore is clearly an illegal deception.

In English please? You may NOT copy, change, alter or tamper with the pattern or information in this workshop in any way and call it your own creation. It originated here at the U and will need our permission to be used anywhere else, except for your own personal use. That means you can make as many bears as you like to give as gifts, but you may not sell your bears. You may not copy the information herein and teach your own workshops. Let your conscience be your guide and if you have any questions, please ask us. Nancy is always happy to respond in a helpful manner.

The fines provided by the courts are up to $1,000,000 and 5 year in prison upon conviction by indictment. Most countries around the world, follow the same copyright laws.

That's BIG BUCKS and a lot of stress!

In plain English, copyright infringement is theft. Both literally and morally it is wrong. It doesn't matter to the courts if you steal a chocolate bar, a car or someone else's design; theft is theft. A copyright by the way, does not need to be registered. A registered copyright just makes it easier to prove in court that the work belongs to the author.

Want to know more about copyright law? Look for more information in an upcoming workshop called "The Business of Bears. 402" here at the e-BearZ University.