i'm going to do this thing here where i practice being open-minded and willing to admit when i am wrong. it's not the easiest thing to do in real life, and the same is true for on the internet. i say this only to ask you to bear with me, and to please see in my words my sincerity, tone of voice being a difficult thing to express no matter what font you're using.
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last week, i posted this on my facebook page:
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a lot of people stopped by to weigh in. comments were mixed, but mostly constructive. and then there were not-so-nice words for me, which is fine. i made a harsh comment in a public forum and people have an absolute right to share their feelings about that. (though i can't resist noting the irony of nasty public comments left to inform me that such things shouldn't be said publicly.) i have also exercised my right to remove any comments that were offensive and/or non-constructive, but the thread as a discussion remains public.
while i do think that the topic at the root of this is important, no matter how difficult, for us to discuss, i do not think i went about that in a positive or appropriate way. there was no need to use Amy's blog, contest, or designs as an example or public whipping post, as the case may be. i am sorry for having done so. (for the sake of public interest, i have expressed this sentiment to Amy personally as well.)
i've been thinking about creativity, inspiration, ethics, and making mistakes... and i'll share some of those thoughts here. i am so very happy if anyone wants to weigh in, but let us learn from my mistake and not throw anyone under the proverbial bus. any comments doing so will be removed.
creativity is defined as the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination
creativity requires the ability to dissect what exists, to spin it around and turn it on its head, to combine it with pieces of other things and put it back together. creativity means questioning the why and the how, and it knows that there is always a way to transcend the everyday, to make the simple unique, and to use inspiration to see things in a new light. creativity inspires.
my husband can attest to the many times i have been moved to tears because someone has written to tell me how i inspired them. those moments are a huge part of why i write here, and why i design patterns, and why i sew/create/make at all. it is at once incredibly flattering and humbling, and it inspires me right back.
let me be clear that recreation is not inspiration. and that i will never be flattered for someone going out of their way to copy or otherwise recreate my work.
i work hard to create. a new pattern, for example, requires countless hours that could otherwise be spent with my family (or reading a good book!) as well as money, actual cash money i pay for a myriad of things and hope to make back when the pattern is released. if it's a free pattern or tutorial, i hope that you like my stuff and come back and buy something some other time.
yes, i love what i do, but it is also a business. it is a business that helps my family keep the lights on, and someone copying or recreating my work puts that in jeopardy. so, no. i am not flattered by that.
regardless of how i would feel about someone copying or recreating my work, there's not much to stop anyone from doing so. there is very little legal protection with regards to design in this industry, and while you may be confident that copyright will protect your creative ideas, that is very rarely the case.
so what does that really mean?
well, it means that some people will say that copying is ok because it is not technically illegal. i do find that logic to be absurd. let us not substitute "what i can get away with" for "what is the right thing to do."
in theory, it also means that designers are given the benefit of the doubt that they came up with ideas on their own, and not as a result of recreation or copying. it happens, i'm sure more often than we think, that multiple people design items separately which are basically the same.
when two of these people with a very similar design inhabit the same small sewing blogosphere, it gets tricky. because it is so easy to jump to defensive and territorial. and sometimes when you're upset, things aren't said in the nicest way, and it's easy to forget that on the other side of the equation is a person, and that this other person isn't very different from you.
i say this with the special knowledge of hindsight... did you read that part up there about that stuff i said that wasn't nice? yeah, i basically did the same thing and it wasn't cool. the situation is a little different, but it's definitely all related.
again, i am reminded that everyone has a story. i don't know your story, and i shouldn't suppose to know the reasons behind your actions (or the inspiration behind your design). what i do know is that if the tables were turned, i would want you to give me the benefit of the doubt, and i have an obligation to do the same.
please, let us treat each other with kindness and respect, even though we know that sometimes we'll screw up and say the wrong thing. it starts with me, and it starts with you.
some related links you might find interesting:
Knowledge, a Powerful Tool by Kay Whitt
When Patents Attack from This American Life
on Copyright by Knitty
article about Bullies by We Shall Sew
thanks for reading and happy stitching!
![]()
last week, i posted this on my facebook page:
a lot of people stopped by to weigh in. comments were mixed, but mostly constructive. and then there were not-so-nice words for me, which is fine. i made a harsh comment in a public forum and people have an absolute right to share their feelings about that. (though i can't resist noting the irony of nasty public comments left to inform me that such things shouldn't be said publicly.) i have also exercised my right to remove any comments that were offensive and/or non-constructive, but the thread as a discussion remains public.
while i do think that the topic at the root of this is important, no matter how difficult, for us to discuss, i do not think i went about that in a positive or appropriate way. there was no need to use Amy's blog, contest, or designs as an example or public whipping post, as the case may be. i am sorry for having done so. (for the sake of public interest, i have expressed this sentiment to Amy personally as well.)
i've been thinking about creativity, inspiration, ethics, and making mistakes... and i'll share some of those thoughts here. i am so very happy if anyone wants to weigh in, but let us learn from my mistake and not throw anyone under the proverbial bus. any comments doing so will be removed.
creativity is defined as the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination
creativity requires the ability to dissect what exists, to spin it around and turn it on its head, to combine it with pieces of other things and put it back together. creativity means questioning the why and the how, and it knows that there is always a way to transcend the everyday, to make the simple unique, and to use inspiration to see things in a new light. creativity inspires.
my husband can attest to the many times i have been moved to tears because someone has written to tell me how i inspired them. those moments are a huge part of why i write here, and why i design patterns, and why i sew/create/make at all. it is at once incredibly flattering and humbling, and it inspires me right back.
let me be clear that recreation is not inspiration. and that i will never be flattered for someone going out of their way to copy or otherwise recreate my work.
i work hard to create. a new pattern, for example, requires countless hours that could otherwise be spent with my family (or reading a good book!) as well as money, actual cash money i pay for a myriad of things and hope to make back when the pattern is released. if it's a free pattern or tutorial, i hope that you like my stuff and come back and buy something some other time.
yes, i love what i do, but it is also a business. it is a business that helps my family keep the lights on, and someone copying or recreating my work puts that in jeopardy. so, no. i am not flattered by that.
regardless of how i would feel about someone copying or recreating my work, there's not much to stop anyone from doing so. there is very little legal protection with regards to design in this industry, and while you may be confident that copyright will protect your creative ideas, that is very rarely the case.
so what does that really mean?
well, it means that some people will say that copying is ok because it is not technically illegal. i do find that logic to be absurd. let us not substitute "what i can get away with" for "what is the right thing to do."
in theory, it also means that designers are given the benefit of the doubt that they came up with ideas on their own, and not as a result of recreation or copying. it happens, i'm sure more often than we think, that multiple people design items separately which are basically the same.
when two of these people with a very similar design inhabit the same small sewing blogosphere, it gets tricky. because it is so easy to jump to defensive and territorial. and sometimes when you're upset, things aren't said in the nicest way, and it's easy to forget that on the other side of the equation is a person, and that this other person isn't very different from you.
i say this with the special knowledge of hindsight... did you read that part up there about that stuff i said that wasn't nice? yeah, i basically did the same thing and it wasn't cool. the situation is a little different, but it's definitely all related.
again, i am reminded that everyone has a story. i don't know your story, and i shouldn't suppose to know the reasons behind your actions (or the inspiration behind your design). what i do know is that if the tables were turned, i would want you to give me the benefit of the doubt, and i have an obligation to do the same.
please, let us treat each other with kindness and respect, even though we know that sometimes we'll screw up and say the wrong thing. it starts with me, and it starts with you.
some related links you might find interesting:
Knowledge, a Powerful Tool by Kay Whitt
When Patents Attack from This American Life
on Copyright by Knitty
article about Bullies by We Shall Sew
thanks for reading and happy stitching!
