Link: Copyrights and Wrongs.
I highly recommend reading the above link--more excellent discussion!
I greatly appreciate those of you that have taken time to comment, share insights, perspectives and experiences.
Someone emailed me privately to ask a particular question regarding CASEing and using such CASEs at workshops or for classroom instruction. For those unfamiliar with the term "CASE", it is the acronym for "Copy And Steal Everything", or "Copy And Share Everything".
In all honesty, I'm not a proponent of CASEing another's work for anything beyond personal use.
Personal use would be defined by the following examples:
Copying someone else's design to make a card to give your gramma on her birthday.
Copying someone else's design in order to learn and expand your skills.
If you are an instructor, and wish to use one of my uploaded designs to teach others, I do prefer to be asked for permission, and if granted, that full credit for the design be included. If it is used by another for instructional purposes, that individual stands to gain financially for using it (class fees, income from product sold based on the sample), yet I am the one that invested the skill, time, and resources into its creation.
Given that, it hardly seems fair that another should use my intellectual property for such gain, without so much as asking permission, wouldn't you agree?
In all seriousness, I genuinely wish more folks would try looking at it from this standpoint (those who have known me for a long time, already know full well the analogy that's coming):
Would it bother you if I spotted your car in your driveway, or on the street, and assumed that, because it was in my line of sight, you would be happy to "share" it with me--to take on a drive around town, to run errands, etc., using fuel you paid for out of your pocket? And, without me asking permission?
If I didn't buy the car/don't own the car, why should I feel I am entitled to use it, simply because I see it parked on the street?
How is the car any different from something someone has put their thought, their time, and their resources into creating? From where I stand, intellectual property is every bit as valid, and valuable, as physical property!
I'm prolly preachin' to the choir, here, based on the comments that have come in . . . because, YESSSSSSS!!!!! *YOU* get it! It is so encouraging and uplifting to know you are out there, and that you do!
MadameCraftyPants, I do agree, in part, that we have had a hand in creating the monster by giving too much, too freely . . . and, I would agree that it is indeed not a subject openly discussed in our crafting communities!
Interesting enough, when creative professionals have tried to stand up in defense of intellectual property rights, they have been accused of being "unwilling to share" . . . I think the definition of the term "share" has been stretched well beyond what it should--to the point of some folks feeling justified in dismissing the perspective of creative professionals within the industry and how it impacts their ability to earn an income, doing work they love . . .
I'm so glad not to be alone on that soap box . . . (wink!)
