Back in the late 90's, I occasionally amused myself by scanning pattern catalog drawings and changing them into paper dolls. I shared those dolls with friends in a paper doll group. Then around 2007, I posted several of those sets here at Dakota Dreams, including some sets made from Simplicity's Daisy Kingdom fabric and pattern designs. I did not ask for permission to use these drawings in any way, much less to alter them, or to publish them on my blog.
Yesterday, Maggie Raguse, the artist who drew those many outfits, contacted me and asked that I remove those files from my blog. I have done so, and I am so very sorry that in posting the dolls, anyone, anywhere may have thought that I was declaring myself the originator of those adorable drawings.
I am so sorry, Ms. Raguse. It was an incredible lapse in common sense, especially given that I stress copyright infringement in all of my talks on knitwear design.
I apologize to my readers as well.
If you have linked to, or reposted, any of those scans anywhere, or pinned them on Pinterest, please honor Ms. Raguse's entirely reasonable request to remove those files.
Thank you, and again, I'm sorry.
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1 comment:
Thank you for your apology and follow-through, Kathleen.
Since I make my living being an illustrator, seeing my work published anywhere without permission or compensation is an affront (as I believe it would be to you if I scanned pages and pages of your knitwear patterns and instructions for readers of my own blog to simply print out). Copyright infringement is a slippery slope, especially in these times when uploading and downloading images and content on the internet is so easy to do on our home computers. However easy it is to do, it is still illegal, yet many, MANY people do it, unfortunately.
I do think your idea of using an old pattern catalog and making one’s own paper dolls from it for personal use is a fantastic, crafty, resourceful idea – and I love that you shared with your readers how to do that: recycling already published images! My issue is with RE-publishing them on your blog without permission or proper compensation. THAT is copyright infringement of my artwork, and frankly, of ALL the printed, vintage paper dolls that you have republished here (except perhaps those very old turn-of-the-century ones that may now be in public domain).
Conversely, I DO have a group of free-to-download paper dolls “out there” online. The illustrations were sold intentionally with that end-use in mind. Here is a link to that site:
http://www.pattyreeddesigns.com/Cat-33-1-53/paper-dolls.htm
You can send your readers to that website (however you cannot republish them here on your blogsite for your readers to download from here).
Sincerely,
Maggie Raguse
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