Worry Eaters / Worry Dolls / Worry Worms

Dear users, dear authors,
What do you do with worry eaters, worry dolls, worry worms and worry gobblers? As far as I understand it, these amigurumi are great for using up leftover yarn, but I’d love it if you could explain how they work. 

Here’s a colorful free worry worm pattern so you know what this is about:

Funny Worry Worms

I agree. Worry worms tend to fall under the category of charity and are meant to do some good. I think it’s really brazen and exploitative to profit from them. We have some very well-made, free worry worm patterns here—there’s no need to buy a pattern. 

Dear Josefa, I completely agree with Wunderlich’s Kreativchaos and Nadeleule. Many authors go to great lengths to provide improved patterns and videos for free, and then suddenly someone wants to make money off of them. I don’t think that’s right. Best regards, Sigrid

Dear Josefa, first of all, I’d like to thank you for bringing this thread to my attention. Now I finally have the chance to make a statement about the storm of criticism it sparked.
My motivation was simply that I saw on Facebook how many people were having trouble with the free patterns. That’s why I went to the trouble of taking step-by-step photos and explaining everything in detail. My pattern isn’t 8 pages long for nothing. I’d also like a small compensation for this effort.
Looking at the sales figures, I can’t be too far off in assuming that there’s a demand among customers for a detailed pattern.
Among other things, I was also accused of selling someone else’s idea as my own—in my pattern description, I mention right in the second word that the little worms are currently trending. Anyone who isn’t willing to pay for a pattern and doesn’t yet know that these are already available for free online multiple times will, after reading this text at the latest, Google where they can find a free pattern.
Aside from that, I was also accused of copyright infringement, so I checked with a lawyer friend beforehand to be on the safe side.
Also, after the first backlash, I wrote to CP support and offered to remove my pattern. As you can see, it’s still available in my shop.
Best regards, Claudia

Dear Claudia

It’s really nice that you’re speaking up here and explaining your point of view. I’m sure it’s very unpleasant for you to be exposed to this “backlash.”

Basically, I understand your point that you’d like to be compensated for your effort—we all put a lot of work into creating patterns and charge a price accordingly.

But there are also things you can do simply out of altruistic motives. And in my very personal opinion, creating a pattern for a worry worm is one of them. It was someone else’s idea, and the thought behind it is to bring joy to people in a completely selfless way. So, morally speaking, it just doesn’t feel right to me to charge money for it. Of course, it’s up to you to decide what to do. And yes, the sales figures show that there are obviously some people who don’t mind this, or who perhaps just haven’t “caught on” that there are plenty of free patterns for the same product—including here at Crazypatterns, and, by the way, very well-reviewed ones at that.

The pattern brought you a lot of sales in the short term; that might be a great success for you as a newcomer to Crazypatterns and confirmation that you did everything right. But ask yourself how many potential customers you’ve alienated for good. The many comments on the product show that there’s a lot of outrage on the part of customers. A well-made, free pattern would not only have brought you many satisfied customers who would buy more of your products, but it would also have brought joy instead of frustration. I think that, in the long run, that would have been the better solution for you 🤗

Best regards
Sonja

Hi Sonja,

thank you for your constructive criticism. You may be right—I can’t judge that at this point, and I also lack the experience.
However, the comments came mainly from designers.

Best regards, Claudia

LCreativ, I’m afraid I have to disagree. I read through all the comments, and there were plenty of customers among them.

Ultimately, it’s up to you what you make or sell.

But here’s a little tip from me: I also wrote a pattern with a lot of love—Voodoo Gerda (feel free to check it out)—without any intention of making money from it or getting paid for my effort. The point behind it was to encourage people who are sick. The many downloads, comments, and reviews didn’t hurt me—they actually helped. It’s exactly the same with the worry worms.

Customers also appreciate these little gestures from us authors and, at the same time, get to know our writing style and the structure of our patterns, which is especially helpful for new authors in the beginning.

Personally, I would never have thought of trying to make money with the worry worms—out of respect for the original creator and the concept itself. I prefer to be unique; I never model my work after other crocheted items and make things that no one else has. That way, situations like this one don’t happen.

Warm regards, Janine 

Dear Janine,
I don’t “make money” from this pattern; I use the proceeds for a social project I started. The proceeds benefit a workshop for people with disabilities in our community. Things aren’t always what they seem.
Best regards, Claudia

To be completely honest, I don’t really understand what all the fuss is about here.
Anyone who’s ever crocheted more than their first potholder can “figure out” how to make a worry worm like this—there’s not much to it, and generally speaking, you know how to crochet those kinds of curls. I’ve even crocheted some and given them away without using a pattern.
So to start talking about “idea theft” right off the bat seems a bit of a stretch to me.
And someone who’s a bit less experienced or a beginner will naturally look for a pattern. When I type that into the search bar, all the free patterns come up right away—so it’s not exactly a big secret. And if someone decides to buy a pattern like that, that’s fine too—people can do as they please.
To make such a big moral issue out of such “trifles”—well, it’s certainly possible, but does it accomplish anything? It reads as if the author wants to make money off the suffering of others, and I find that quite an exaggeration.
Whether it was a smart move in terms of customer perception and future sales remains to be seen—and that’s a whole other matter.

Dear Veronika,
thank you for your kind words!
Best regards, Claudia

LCreativ,
It’s commendable that the proceeds are being donated. But then I don’t understand why this isn’t mentioned in the description (that alone could have spared us discussions like this one).

@veronika-115
Here’s an example to help you understand why this sparks such discussions:

LCreativ has a free pattern in the shop. I don’t think it’s sufficient for beginners, so I write a new pattern and take lots of photos with step-by-step instructions. The result is the same. And then I sell the pattern because I put in more effort than the author of the free pattern. 

Would you think that’s fair? On top of that, this is a copyright infringement. No matter how simple a pattern is. The best example is the Turtle Memory game.

Copyright infringement in every direction, in every language. Here, someone is being celebrated for an idea that someone else already had two years earlier—it just wasn’t sold here on CP! The same goes for crochet charts from Pinterest.  They’re simply converted on a large scale into written patterns, paired with fancy photos, the last round is tweaked, and boom—they’re passed off as their own. That’s just not right, and I think we should respect other people’s work. And this happens everywhere, on every platform.

How often do people get upset that patterns from here show up on other platforms (I’ve been affected by this multiple times!)? This is exactly the same thing, just the other way around.

As I said, everyone has to decide for themselves what they do, but what’s right should still be right—and not just because customers are buying something even though there are tons of free patterns out there. The responsibility lies with the creators here, not the customers. 

I see it a little differently with such a simple project. If that were the case, then no one would be allowed to sell pot holders, washcloths, or dish towels as their own original designs just because they have a different pattern. That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I hope you get my point.
These little worms consist of this one spiral—some people crochet it with single crochet stitches, others with double crochet, and so on. You can buy the beads with faces on every corner; some people put little hats on them, others don’t.
I’m no lawyer, but I’d say—using common sense—that a copyright lawsuit over this wouldn’t amount to anything except wasted money and time.

@Veronika-115

I understand what you mean, and I don’t mean any harm by it. I just don’t think it’s right from the authors’ perspective. There are simply some things that aren’t appropriate among “colleagues” (from a moral standpoint).

@Veronika:

I understand your point of view, but you can’t rule out a copyright infringement just because something is simple. The best example: the “smiley”! A simple yellow circle with eyes and a mouth. Any random kindergarten kid could come up with something “new” like that every day. But it’s protected by copyright because someone was clever enough to have it registered.
If I were to go ahead and have the “worry worm” copyrighted, I could sue anyone who “designs their own” for severe penalties.
By the way, there’s also utility model protection, which I don’t even have to register. I just have to be able to prove that it’s “mine.”

But that’s just a little aside—and of course not legal advice 😉

Best regards

The smiley face is a good example—not every scribbled smiley face counts as one. And the same goes for these twisted little worms—what’s the original? Sure, I understand the legal situation, but not every twisted crocheted string is a worry worm. Wouldn’t a specific size need to be defined, then? Mine would have to be as thick as an arm and at least 1 meter long. 🤣🤣
Joking aside, I understand the basic situation too—I just found the heavy-handed moralizing a bit unnecessary, especially since they’re charging for the pattern. If that were the case, we’d have to condemn all free patterns too, because only one can be the original—that’s just nonsense.

Dear Claudia,

I don’t think you were subjected to a “shitstorm”—I think people were just expressing their opinions.  A “shitstorm” would be if someone had insulted you or threatened you. And personally, I don’t think it’s great for a new seller to make money off an idea that someone else came up with. It’s supposed to be not just YOUR pattern, but also YOUR IDEA. Even if you claim to be donating the proceeds—which, of course, no one can verify. 

See, there it is again. So it’s okay to pass on “stolen” ideas for free and get praised for it? What a strange moral code.

Dear Veronika,
I didn’t praise anyone. But I think that if the pattern sold 331 copies and brought in €1.14 each, it’s okay to express an opinion about it. And how would you react if I passed off one of your patterns as my own? Would you really be so thrilled about that? 

Is it only the money she earned that’s bugging you? What if the pattern were given away for free? Then the idea would still be just as much your own, and someone else would be taking credit for it.

For example, I was referring to this paragraph:
***I’m all the more shocked that there’s a PAID pattern for this here. Especially since, as already mentioned, the pattern has been available everywhere
for free for a long time. The purpose of these little worms is
to bring joy and comfort, and the idea isn’t meant to make money
. I find it very cheeky.***

So does copyright only apply to paid patterns? That can’t be right. But it’s tacitly accepted or even praised (***
Worry Worms fall more into the realm of charity and are meant to do some good***).

So what’s really bothering you guys? Just that she made money? On the other hand, maybe the worry worms made from that pattern have already provided a lot of comfort. Or do only worry worms crocheted using free patterns provide comfort?
Actually, none of us can crochet a worry worm anymore that doesn’t follow the creator’s original pattern; in principle, we’d all be criminals then.

Well, who “invented” the first worry worms? Do we even know?
Last year, it was the wind spinners that popped up everywhere: basically just a spiral of double crochets. There were different variations of those, too: solid-colored, multicolored, crocheted with fancy yarns, etc. Were those all new ideas?And weren’t those already precursors to the worry worms? With such simple designs, it would be hard to prove copyright infringement. I think the simpler a pattern is, the harder it becomes to tell: is this my own idea or not? But does that mean we shouldn’t be allowed to sell simple patterns anymore?

@ruthk

LCreativ wrote that she simply made the pattern more visual (with pictures and over 8 pages) and would therefore like to be compensated a little. The way I read that is that she based her pattern on a free pattern and just spruced it up a bit. Plus, the description says these little worms are trendy—meaning she knew there were countless free patterns out there for them.

  It was the same with the wind spinners back then. Suddenly, lots of people wanted a piece of the pie, even though there are countless free patterns for them, too.

I have simple patterns myself, and I think they should continue to be available. My point is that you don’t do that among “colleagues.” In my opinion, that’s not the right thing to do. I don’t mean to attack anyone with this—I’m just expressing my opinion on the matter. 

This can be interpreted in different ways; I understood it to mean that her pattern is more comprehensive than the free ones, but not that she adapted an existing one.
Who is the original creator of, say, the Christmas worms? It would be interesting to hear their opinion on this.
And as Ruth already wrote (and as I’ve also tried to explain), with such simple things, it really becomes nitpicking.
Since Halloween just passed, let’s take the bat as an example. How many patterns are there here on the topic of bats? And quite a few look very similar—obviously, because they’re all bats. So your own version really only differs in color or yarn choice, whether it grins or winks, whether it’s fat or thin.... But that’s all—a bat is just a bat.

@Veronika-115

That’s the art of writing a pattern (in my opinion). Sure, a bat is a bat, but standing out from the crowd is the real art. Every creator has their own unique approach.
A teddy bear is just as good an example. A bear is a bear. It’s not easy to write patterns for one that really stands out. They’re almost all similar in some way. But many have their own unique features.

Yeah, and I’ll admit: with the little worms, that’s impossible. That’s why I ask: Why am I designing the 20th pattern for them when there are already so many out there? Of course, this question also applies to the free patterns. And yes, those come in different variations, too. And yes, technically, those are also a form of “copyright infringement.” In this regard, it’s up to the creator to decide whether to tolerate it or not.

Not every customer is on Facebook or Instagram, so we CAN be forgiving about the free patterns here (after all, no one is making money off them). 

I can already tell this is turning into a never-ending discussion, and to be honest, my time is too valuable for that.

I’ve explained my point of view in detail (I think) and now wish everyone continued fun crocheting and a wonderful week.

Best regards, Janine 

Have a great week, too!
I find this kind of discussion really interesting. I don’t know the exact legal details—I’m not an author, after all—but some things are open to interpretation. That’s why I always find it exciting to hear different perspectives.