The Copyright Morass

So, recently I've noticed a lot of posts on message boards about copyright as it relates to crafting. It's being talked about on Knitty and in the forums on Etsy, my latest place for obsessive shopping. As an attorney who decided to specialize in copyright and trademark law while in law school (not that anyone will hire me to practice in those areas, but that's another issue entirely), I'm sort of appalled at the confusion that exists. There are many people in the crafting community who think they know about copyright, and there are many who admit to ignorance in the area. But, I am suddenly curious about the actual "rules" (if the Copyright Act can be said to truly have hard and fast rules). It occurred to me that there really needs to be a good resource for crafters to head to when these questions come up, and that resource should be created by an attorney who knows how to locate and interpret legislation. And since I'm not really doing anything requiring a surplus of brain cells at the moment, I might just be able to put together such a resource.

So, what I'm planning to do is get started on assembling clear-cut answers to those questions that seem to keep popping up on the web. It's going to take a while (since I do actually have a job to go to and also some knitting to get done), but I'm hoping to eventually be able to create a website or at least a downloadable document with the information. And I might find enough debate out there to warrant writing a law journal article, which would be great because I'd love to publish something. Maybe there's even a book in there somewhere.

If you're interested, stay tuned to this space. I'll post some of my findings as I go along.

Oh, and ChildHood is almost finished. Just have to sew on the snaps, which I could have done last night if The Boyfriend hadn't distracted me. Pictures this weekend!