More Information Leads to More Questions
This blog is a continuation of an ongoing discussion about a quilt guild’s copyright problem. If you are just visiting the blog for the first time, please take the time to scroll back a few days to find out what is going on.
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This morning, I visited some of the archived letters, online, of the Amador Quilt Guild, the California Guild that involved itself in a legal struggle with a designer over the use of her designs.
In January 2007, the president’s message stated, “The guild is confronted with a difficult situation … First, the artistic and creative capabilities of the guild are being challenged … We are reassembling all of the original artwork used to create the blocks.” She further states that a new quilt would be assembled by Linda Schmidt, and in the February 2007 newsletter she announced that a quilt called, “Water Music,’ had been prepared under Linda’s guidance.
An online list notes that the designer had given permission to use her designs but balked at them being used in the border. Yet another source states that there seems to have been no problem until the guild began offering patterns for the quilt at $65.00, or $70.00 for non-members, a pattern packet that apparently included copyrighted material. Reportedly, the guild has already earned back half of the $36,000. spent in legal fees.
What a sad and confusing situation! Of course, I have not heard directly from any of the parties involved. Why? Well, it seems that the court gave them a gag order not to discuss the case, as part of the settlement. The case was settled in October 2007.
That said, I suppose we will not know any more about this, and therefore, an opportunity to learn has been lost among dirty little secrets. No one whom I know has the full facts, and I suspect, never will have.
The only advice I can give to potential “opportunity quilt” makers in the future is to design your own quilt. There will be a lot more satisfaction in that process, at any rate. Perhaps the only way to totally avoid the mean spirited ways of designers is to boycott their products, and perhaps, even their classes and books, as some quilters have already suggested doing.
I can think of no other real solution other than to rely on your own creative and artistic impulses when designing and making any quilt. Alternately, you could find quilt blocks that are public domain material. For one, I’m disgusted that this whole sorry mess was ever brought to my attention. See what can happen when there are no clear communications (permissions) in place, in writing?
Misunderstandings can easily arise. In this legal case, the outcome seems to have been a lose-lose verdict, except for the benefit of alerting the rest of the quilt world to the kinds of issues that are currently arising. Those with the best of intentions can err in their eagerness to share creative works to bring a little beauty to the lives of others. On the other hand, the rights of designers should be respected, too. There has to be a happy balance somewhere in the mix.
Patricia Cummings
