I saw an interesting blog post the other day about this over here.
There have been many, many interesting discussions and arguments on this subject over the years and I always read them all with interest and sometimes a certain amount of 'grumpiness'!!!!
If you've the time (or inclination!) then read on but if you haven't then don't bother - this is only my opinion!!!
Over the years I've been doing this craft things have changed dramatically but I think the most dramatic change has come about with the internet. This has given us access to many, many more patterns, techniques and friendships than anything else. New tatters come along in droves (thank goodness) to try their hand at our craft. After a few patterns have been made up they can then see 'improvements' and other ideas stemming from these. Great - BUT. Hang on, shouldn't we not only encourage this but also add a word of caution here?
I read many, many blogs each day and get very bored with the same old, same old claims by people who have 'designed a new pattern' for us. Great - if it is new. But what if it isn't and mostly they aren't!!!! They are what I call 'generic'. A lot of the current - 'this is MY new pattern' claims are just these. They ARE new to that person but NOT new to tat land. I feel we should encourage these 'wannabe' designers to check, check, check to see that their 'designs' haven't been done before!!! This is now SO easy through blogs, forums and groups and by just asking around!! Also internet searches are a lot easier too.
I feel that through these simplistic generic 'new patterns' we are actually 'cheapening' our craft. I think we need to stimulate new tatters by offering more interesting ideas. Not those beyond their capabilities (I am so often guilty of that!) but by putting more thought into what we do. Let's not criticise those who 'steal' these simple generic designs but rather point out that they must have been done before because they are so 'simple'. Let's encourage more checking out of our work before publishing it as 'ours'.
Many years ago I came up with the medium seahorse which was commissioned by and published in a weekly magazine in the UK. Imagine my HORROR when the Ring of Tatters published it a few years later in their Newsletter, very badly notated and altered and with somebody else's name on it as the designer and owner of the copyright. Imagine PICOTS all over it and you get the idea. To say I was unhappy is to put it mildly. This was actually a case where the new publishers were MORE to blame than the person who had 'stolen' my copyrighted work simply because they HADN'T CHECKED. The old lady who'd 'stolen' my work thought that as she'd paid a few pence for the magazine that the pattern was hers to do what she liked with. Simple (to her!) alterations to something which took so many hours of my time.
Anyway, enough of my ramblings - I'm off to have a shower and my breakfast!!!!!
