What Is Considered Copying A Design? A Conversation

Dolce and Gabbana crochet design shown in In Style magazine

I've known Natalia of Outstanding Crochet for a few years and I was her mentor (at her request) to help her get published. She has gorgeous designs and someone you wouldn't think needed a mentor. By all means, she did not need a mentor but just someone to help guide her in the process of getting a pattern published. I gave her contacts and info on getting published. Not long after that, she sent a design to the Crochet A Day Calender and not only was her design accepted, but she won the grand prize of $1,000 as the overall best design that year! I wasn't surprised. Then she had a skirt design accepted for a new Vintage Crochet magazine. Of course she was excited they choose her design but afterwards she said she'd never submit again because she put way too much work into that skirt (with thread) to be paid such a little amount.  That's another conversation on whether it is worth it or not. One reason is that it helps you get known quicker, but that subject is for another blog post.

Natalia (Natasha on Facebook) of Outstanding Crochet  is from the Ukraine, but is currently living in Pennsylvania (USA) with her husband and son. We have learned from each other so I consider her to be my mentor too! She's one of the sweetest, most talented designers I know.
She and I were talking about a crochet dress and jacket that a major fashion designer (Dolce and Gabbana) showed on the runway. I sent her the picture of it from my latest issue of "In Style" magazine and commented on how they are showing more and more crochet in magazines. (like the 60's and 70's). That particular magazine had 3 separate pages of crochet items. She told me another crochet designer she knows said they copied her design, which started this conversation. Here's what I told her.

Mary Jane:
When I was in a 4 hour class at Chain Link years ago with a lawyer, (Ms Brown) one of the things they said is that you can't copyright a stitch pattern, but you can copyright a garment or anything else made with that stitch pattern. (Like the stitches in stitch pattern books, for example the shell st, bobble st, or triple crochet st). In 2006, I searched everywhere for months for a crochet houndstooth stitch pattern. I looked all over the internet and every crochet book I could find. I have over 600 crochet books and magazines (many vintage) and a houndstooth stitch could not be found anywhere. I did find one called that in a vintage book, but it was not the same and did not look like the knitted houndstooth stitch. I even asked older known crochet designers in their 70's and 80's and they said that stitch did not exist. So I worked really hard and came up with the crochet Houndstooth stitch. Then I made a barrel bag with it that was published in a Crochet Today! Magazine. I also designed a scarf with the stitch for my book, Crochet That Fits. I'd never seen it before. After that I started seeing designers designing projects with it everywhere. It would have been nice for me to get credit, but I've never seen or heard anyone mention my name. Even though that bothered me a little, I remember from that class with the lawyer we can't copyright a stitch or stitch pattern. If that major runway designer who's design was in the magazine just used the granny square she came up with, it's ok even though it might bother her. But if they made a whole outfit or garment with the unique granny squares, that looks exactly like hers, that's illegal. Was it the granny square they copied or was the outfit identical?

Natalia:
Yes, it looked the same.
So, if you design a garment and a stitch for it, it’s copyrighted. If another designer use this stitch, but make a different garment, it’s legal?

Mary Jane:
Yes, if I understand you correctly.
For example, if you created the very first ever shell stitch, star stitch, popcorn stitch or any other stitch and you design a garment with it, you're garment design is copyrighted. But not the stitch. Just the way you put the garment together (your written patten).
But anyone else can use one of those stitches to make a different garment and that's ok and their garment is copyrighted too. Is this what you understood me to say?
That's why you can buy those stitch pattern books, because anyone can do what they want to with them, no matter who came up with the stitches.

Natalia:
Yes, that's what I meant. Thank you!

Mary Jane:
Something else we learned is that you can look at a design and love the way it's shaped or put together and if you come up with a totally different stitch, you can call it yours. People don't have a copyright on a shape either. An example would be your doily bag that I loved and wanted to do something similar. (The one you tested and stitched up for the book when I thought I wasn't going to meet my deadline).
Every stitch is different bc it's a different doily, and I didn't put those ties with the balls on the ends (which I love!) I did put one rose on the front of mine and a couple of leaves but I made up my own pattern for those. Your purse has several roses (different sizes) and several leaves. Some people may look at mine and say I copied yours, and yes, I copied the idea (because I loved it) but every stitch is different. Usually if I get an idea from another design I do it so you can't tell it inspired me and they're so different. I don't want people to think I copied, but I know what's legal.

When I did my first ever designs (Leisure Arts books with Kooler Designs), I wanted to make a crochet scarf that I had seen in knit at Old Navy. That was back in November, 2004. I had already made it and wanted to include it in one of those books. The editor contacted their lawyer about it and they said it was perfectly legal because every stitch was different. (crochet instead of knit). I even did it in the same colors! It looks exactly like the knit version, but I would never do that again, even though I copied the idea and not the stitches. I was inexperienced, but the publisher and lawyer was ok with it.

I've had people copy one of my designs before and it looked identical. They even used the exact same stitch, but changed the number of stitches on a row and thought they could call it theirs. Now that's not right!
Another girl made several of my Little Black dresses in different colors and sold them on etsy as her own design. That infuriated me. I tried contacting her several times but she never wrote back. I asked her if she would state in her listing my name as the designer, but she never did and she kept ignoring me. The only thing she did different is that she did the dresses in different colors (not black) and she put a strip of an edging (bought at a fabric store) across the front of the high waist. You can't do a design in a different color and call it your own. You'd be surprised at how many people do that and think it's ok.

Mary Jane's Halls dress design in Crochet That Fits, that an etsy seller was selling as her own design, without mentioning my name

This is that dress I was talking about (Little Black Dress design with my Graduated Stitch Method of doing shaped crochet garments without increases or decreases). Now that method is copyrighted as my ideas that I created it, but it doesn't mean other people can't use the method to come up with other things, but this dress is my exact design. I even came up with new stitches, such as the half triple crochet and half double treble crochet to work as a "bridge" between the dc and tr, just like the hdc is a bridge between the sc and dc. Even though I came up with those sts (it made sense to me), those stitches aren't copyrighted, but it would be nice if people gave me credit, just like with the Houndstooth check st. Back when I was doing that book, I contracted Margaret Hubert who's been writing crochet and knit books since 1979 and Rita Weis, (a publisher and designer in her 80's), and they both said they'd never seen those stitches anywhere or even heard of them. But of course, anyone can use those stitches.

Natalia:
Yes, that’s disturbing! I am not surprised though, it happens a lot. In cases like that one should never contact another person directly. If she responded, you could have later used it in a law case against her. So when you see things like that, you should send cease or desist letter.
On  the other hand, when you are successful, people will copy you. It’s a part of it, and you should be like an elephant, moving forward, not paying attention to small dogs, barking at you. It’s all very energy consuming, so let them be. It’s my Moto, not an advice 🤣😉.

Mary Jane:
That is good advice Natalia. (Elephant and barking dogs) It used to bother me, but not as much now. Remember that lady on Instagram who had your design and I told you about it? I found some of my designs she posted too (without my name) and I didn't even say anything to her. She couldn't really add my name as the designer because she had several designs on 1 page. Or several designs in one post that you scroll to see them. But one thing is that she has a top of mine from the newest book with the WHOLE written pattern posted too! (a picture of the pattern pages).
I did find out  when one lady from a crochet blog did an interview with me on a Podcast, the publisher allowed her to post that as a free pattern, so I'm sure that's where the lady on Instagram got it.
On the cease and desist letter, I've never done that yet, but other designers have talked about it. My publisher has done things like that and I bet the person who copied takes it more seriously when a publisher gets involved. In the past sometimes I reported it and sometimes I didn't.

Natalia:
Well, when I see a picture of my design, I usually do nothing if it has my watermark. When I see my picture without a watermark, or with some charts they think that match my pattern, I don’t engaged with the person, but I report the post and they take it down. In a case like this she didn’t have a right to post the pattern of course. I would just report it to Instagram.

Mary Jane:
(Note to Readers) I told another designer last year about Natalia telling me I should add a watermark and that designer said she doesn't do watermarks because people are going to copy anyway, even with a watermark.
But now, after talking to Natalia again and being more active on Instagram, I've decided I am going to start putting my watermark (logo) so people still know it's my design if they decide to post my pictures without my name as the designer.

For more information on what is involved in copying a pattern, go to this website. They have much more info.
http://craftsandcopyrights.com/faq.html

Disclaimer: I am not an attorney, but sharing what I know about copyright laws concerning crochet patterns. If you need to know more, please get advice from someone who is certified.