This is probably my last "thoughty" post before the big move. I'd gotten a copy of "Fiberarts Design Book Five" - another "new" book for me with an old copyright date of 1995. I find it interesting and sometimes helpful to look at work other than quilt art and this has everything from surface design and wearables 
to tapestries and paper/felt. Quilts too of course, toward the back. And that is where, in the quilt section, I saw the first copyright symbol and date following a work's title.
So my immediate thought was, what makes the quilts so special that their makers feel compelled to indicate copyright privileges when the other fiberartists did not? When and why did we quilters get so obsessed with copyrighting our art? And has the rest of the fiberart world now followed suit?
Now yes, I do know the importance of copyright and of honoring it. It just seemed odd when I thought about it that I don't see paintings sporting copyright dates, or ceramics, baskets or weaving, even when they are very distinctive. Just a curious puzzle.
to tapestries and paper/felt. Quilts too of course, toward the back. And that is where, in the quilt section, I saw the first copyright symbol and date following a work's title.So my immediate thought was, what makes the quilts so special that their makers feel compelled to indicate copyright privileges when the other fiberartists did not? When and why did we quilters get so obsessed with copyrighting our art? And has the rest of the fiberart world now followed suit?
Now yes, I do know the importance of copyright and of honoring it. It just seemed odd when I thought about it that I don't see paintings sporting copyright dates, or ceramics, baskets or weaving, even when they are very distinctive. Just a curious puzzle.
1 comment:
Copyright is so complicated, and it's different in US than in Europe. In Europe, the appearance of the symbol/date is just a reminder; copyright is with the author/maker unless it's been signed away in the agreement to publish, which some publishers do insist on. Use of it can also be seen as scare tactics!
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