Licensing Relief

Lines on the wall before 4pm. What even, Chicago?

317/365 - the turkey decoration my mom sent my sister with for me decorate with! so cute

It has almost been one year since I officially opened my Etsy shop. I never sold anything on there, which was only slightly disappointing. I never put anything else on there once I started knitting and crocheting this year because I wasn't sure about the legalities of it all. I had seen the designers specify on some patterns, but not all. For whatever reason, I only just now did a little bit of research, and was very pleased with the results.

Note: this is my understanding of it all after reading some comments, etc on Ravelry for the US. I definitely plan on doing some more research and if you know anything please let me know!

It's a matter of licensing, not copyright. By designing the pattern, the designer has the rights for the pattern itself, including the words and images. They do not have control over what I make with the pattern, however. So if they say a pattern is for personal use only, I cannot charge someone for the pattern because it's not mine. I can, however, make the item they provided the instructions to and then sell that product.

This has been the thing holding me back from using Etsy more. I was very purposeful with my business cards, I used the phrase "custom knits" so then it would come from the angle that people would find a pattern they liked then have me make it for them, therefore making it personalized and custom, not just a direct product from the pattern. I'm not sure if that even makes sense, but it does in my head so I stuck with it.

Now? I'm not sure. I know I want to sell things I make, but not necessarily at such a level that some do, especially while I'm in school. I am able to get a decent amount of knitting in, especially with classes, etc., but I don't really want the pressure to have to keep a shop fully stocked.

No matter how I go about my knitting now that I have this knowledge, I want to make it clear that I will always make it clear that it is not my pattern. Maybe I will one day make my own patterns, but I'm not seeing that happening anytime soon. Maybe a few tweaks here and there, but not from scratch.

I still have ideas for from the Maker. It is a collaboration I dream about daily, but one I'm not quite ready for. It will be a baby step thing, which is fine by me.

- rl

(p.s. this is part of my 14 goals for 2014. You can view all my goals here.)