Copyright Crochet and Knitting Patterns

Hi, I keep noticing that there are tons of patterns published here for a fee that can be found for free on other websites or in certain magazines. So why are these patterns still allowed to be sold here under copyright? I’m totally confused.... Is it really enough to simply use or specify a different yarn type, color, and needle size, add a few personal comments, or rewrite the pattern in a different format—and then declare the pattern “intellectual property”??? I just don’t get it. Sorry. To me, this is still simply fraud against the actual creators or inventors. All these patterns—for crocheted flowers, hearts, and amigurumi, for example—often just feature different colors, yarn types, and hook sizes. What exactly is original about that? Sure… I love browsing here and have bought quite a few patterns and used many free patterns. Still, I often don’t seem to understand the principle behind this. Personally, I don’t see why I should have to pay for a pattern for, say, a crocheted flower, just because the flower is shown in white instead of yellow and made with cotton instead of acrylic yarn (even though the pattern itself is already available for free countless times elsewhere or even comes from magazines). In particular, I’ve also found many of the amigurumi patterns on Japanese websites that actually hold valid copyrights.

Hi Petra,

yes, copyright is often ignored in the world of (handicraft) patterns, and people copy and steal left and right.
However: How do you know that people are stealing (only) from the authors/designers based here and not from THEIR patterns?
Unfortunately, it’s already happened to me that a pattern I created and devised myself was simply brazenly copied, rephrased with a few different words, and offered for sale.
That’s very frustrating, and I personally take quite rigorous action against it.
I can also say in all good conscience that I never copy patterns from anywhere, rephrase them in my own words, and simply repackage them in a few different colors.
Of course, I also find some ideas and inspiration when looking at other crochet projects—you can’t exactly reinvent the wheel. But the execution, the trial and error to see if something works or not, is 100% my own work. Even if I’m supposedly selling the 75280268th crochet heart in the world of handicrafts as a pattern. I tinkered with it, tested it, took photos, wrote the pattern, etc.
There’s no utility model protection for little crochet hearts, so I’m not infringing on any copyright there either. (And yes, I know your statement was general and not aimed at me, but the heart example fits perfectly right now, so I’m happy to use it.)
The situation is different with items subject to utility model protection—e.g., Disney characters.
In those cases, you’re infringing on copyright even if you’ve conceived and worked out the entire pattern yourself. In that case, the rights to the character—whether painted, crocheted, sewn, etc.—and the rights to the name belong to the copyright holder. Sooner or later, the copyright holder will very rigorously assert their rights.

Many free patterns online, as well as paid patterns in books and magazines, have, so to speak, sprung from the minds of smaller designers and authors like myself. People have seen them and copied them. That doesn’t necessarily mean they were deliberately plagiarized. Often, it was just a matter of getting an idea or inspiration, which led to (very) similar results. As I said, you can’t reinvent the wheel.

Patterns in magazines and books are often so abbreviated (of course, printing pages costs a lot of money!) and unclear that even experienced crafters have trouble—and beginners often have almost no chance of achieving a decent result. 
Personally, I go to great lengths to illustrate my patterns thoroughly and describe them in detail so that (almost) anyone can follow them (there will never be a 100% “success rate”). And I’m happy to charge for that.
Many free patterns online are very brief and include few or no step-by-step photos (of course, there are also good and very good free patterns online, but significantly fewer than mediocre to poor ones).

Unfortunately, there’s an extreme “stinginess is cool” mentality. People want everything for free, no matter how much work, thought, and effort went into it.
No one is forced to buy paid patterns.
And anyone who steals and/or copies will eventually come crashing down.

Best regards, Nina

Oh, right: You write,
“on Japanese sites with real copyrights.” What leads you to conclude that these copyrights are “real”?

Is it okay to post a free pattern from somewhere else here on the forum or blog? 

Of course, there are many patterns here that are very similar, or things that have been crocheted for millennia.

But there are also some that are very creative and innovative. There are also some that offer completely new techniques and solutions, and I think it’s definitely worth buying those kinds of patterns.

Hi Pepsitratala,

I agree with you—you can find many things duplicated two, three, a hundred, or even a thousand times. But, as ZwergnaseBaer already wrote, I’ll echo that sentiment: How do you know that the authors on CP aren’t the actual creators, but rather other authors? Just because a free pattern is available elsewhere doesn’t mean it was the first one out there. I’ve often heard from authors that their paid patterns have been reworked by someone else and then made available for free. And not just here in Germany, but on many foreign websites as well. Just recently, another site in the U.S. was discovered where this apparently is common practice. Magazines also love to browse through the work of small-scale authors and then create their own patterns. I know of a case where the author of the magazine eventually admitted to this after some time.

Of course, there are certainly people on CP who do the same thing. That can’t be ruled out. But you can’t lump all CP authors together—and maybe you didn’t even mean to.
And I find the blatant copyright infringement involving, for example, Disney characters truly outrageous. ZwergnaseBaer has already said everything there is to say about that. Authors are constantly reminded of this, even in the authors’ forum, but very few of them care. I’m curious to see when the first wave of cease-and-desist letters will hit. In any case, I wouldn’t dare recreate those characters. And the same goes for other things in my book, but the fact is, a rabbit has two floppy ears and four paws. And just because my grandma crocheted a rabbit 60 years ago doesn’t mean it’s now forbidden for everyone else to crochet rabbits. I hope you know what I mean :-D


BUT....I think it’s actually great that someone is giving this topic some thought and bringing it to the forefront. It just struck me that you assumed the CP authors are the “bad guys,” and you can’t make a blanket statement like that. Many authors here have already been “victims” of copying. But there are certainly some authors who copy others themselves. It’s just that sometimes it’s extremely difficult to figure out who was the first.

Sure, when in doubt, it’s hard to determine who came up with a pattern first. But since there are sooo many similar patterns out there, it ultimately comes down to the “buyer.” I think that if the patterns are available for free somewhere online and someone here brazenly offers them for money, people won’t buy them anyway. On the other hand, it’s obviously a shame to steal a well-thought-out pattern and offer it for free—there’s just too much work that goes into it. But that’s how it is with everything: music, movies, e-books—you can get it all for free if you look for it. I think it’s absolutely unacceptable, but unfortunately there are a lot of dishonest people out there. In the end, the actual creators can only hope that customers remain honest and are willing to pay for the creator’s work and passion. These creators are usually a real help when you get stuck in the pattern—which isn’t the case with the “thieves.”

Hi :) I’d also like to share my opinion:

Especially with “smaller” projects, it can of course happen that you accidentally make something similar to what’s already available on the internet.

Take the little hearts, for example... Yes, there are 1,000 of them on the internet, and it’s only logical that they all look similar in some way, if not that many are even identical... without anyone having copied anything. A heart just looks like a heart, there’s not much you can do to make it different :)
The same goes for very small amigurumi, e.g. keychains. If someone makes a mini teddy, it will probably look very similar to many other teddy bear keychains.
It’s annoying if you offer something like that yourself, but that’s just how it is :)

Of course, it’s up to each person to decide whether they want to pay for it or choose a free pattern.

What annoys me much more about copyright is that people violate the copyright of certain comic characters or - as already mentioned - Disney characters and the like...
I’ve crocheted some of these characters myself and think it’s a shame that I’m not allowed to share them with others... (not even for free) It annoys me all the more that others simply do it without batting an eye. Even here on the site (where it’s actually forbidden), you can find The Simpsons, Minions, Star Wars,...

But anyway. That’s not the topic :)

I think it’s actually the other way around:
I’ve very often seen knitting charts from purchased patterns, especially on Eastern European sites. There, they’re redrawn, scanned, or photographed to their heart’s content. One example is a shawl by the Irish designer Kieran Foley. It suddenly turned up in a Russian forum.

And of course, some things are the same—a knit stitch is still a knit stitch, and a double crochet is still a double crochet.
But still, I believe that the vast majority of people here come up with and work out their own designs. I can certainly say that about myself with a clear conscience. :-)

Oops… now I’ve really “stirred things up.” I certainly didn’t—and don’t—want to lump everyone here at crazypatterns together, or imply with my post that all the creative and hardworking crafters at CP are the bad guys. For heaven’s sake—certainly not. But what I have to admit is that, in some respects, I’ve been thinking too “one-sidedly” or “narrow-mindedly”? As I mentioned earlier, I’ve already purchased many patterns myself and have also printed out some free patterns as inspiration for my own ideas. If I’ve “stepped on anyone’s toes,” I of course apologize wholeheartedly. As I said… I wasn’t “fully” aware of some aspects (I’m sometimes too impulsive by nature), and I’d like to say thank you for the many thought-provoking insights :-) Overall, I really enjoy browsing here, and I still have so many ideas and patterns on my wish list—I don’t even know where to start. Nevertheless, I stand by my opinion that I won’t pay for patterns that I can get for free—either here on CP or from other sources—in exactly the same form (row by row and/or round by round and stitch by stitch). That said, I’ll concede defeat, since it’s indeed difficult to determine who, in each individual case, holds the “copyright” here on CP or on other forums/sources. I wish all you creative types and tinkerers lots of fun and success—get those needles and scissors going :-) Petra