Design collision happens

Many people come to beading because something inside of them said “I can / want to do this too”. Then, after starting to gather information and learn to bead, they will show their first makes with pride. Then, after some playing and showing more, there might be occasions where they will hear “you need to give credit, you may not reverse engineer, you may not say that this is yours, you may not copy”. This results in loads of promising beaders abandoning our lovely Art form for another where things seem to be less complicated.

I am a designer who uses often geometric beadwork techniques. With the hope to show that it is not that complicated, I wrote this article about design collision, copying and copyright. It might, by far, not cover the whole subject, but I hope that it will answer many questions.

The photo shown here is
one offered on www.pixabay.com,
free for all use, without attribution.

We live in a world where spheres, aligned or placed in a certain manner can be seen as art. A photo of said spheres can also be considered as being art. What is certain is that somebody made these spheres, and someone made that photo, and they are entirely theirs until they decide what one or more may do with them. Like selling the spheres (to a public or private garden), or adding the photo where folks might download it without restriction or even attribution, or sell it.

Golden rule: refrain from using something without consent unless clearly stated otherwise.

The same applies to illustrations and texts in a magazine, book, or tutorial. Even if the magazine or tutorial is a free download, it is protected by copyright laws and only with the express consent of the author can it be copied or scanned, shared or hosted elsewhere on the Internet. Sites who publish other folks’ free patterns without consent are frauds. Quotes are allowed as long as there is an attribution to the author and the title of the publication.

What about beadwork?

It is a bit the same. I chose the example of the spheres because obviously, anyone can try to make spheres – it is a universal geometric form. Same for pyramids, cubes, and other geometric forms, made with triangles or other shapes which are primarily technique and where the actual designing resides rather in the color placement and motifs. Go make forms, but without copying all the beads in ABCDesigner’s beadwork. Do it your way.

Now spheres and rings can be rather difficult to succeed. Go through the struggle of finding the right number of increases and beads. You will probably make the same form as others after all, but it will feel good to conquer it on your own.

I started over 3 times to obtain a satisfying little round wreath for the earrings pictured above. The two other attempts failed because either the inside or the outside beads were competing for space, which resulted in wonky wheels. Try to make these earrings yourself without counting the number of beads used and see what happens. (No cheating!)

You want the exact same sphere as ABCDesigner? Buy the physical object. Or buy the tutorial. If none of these are available, ask the designer if he / she agrees that you make the same on your own. Some will say yes. Some will refuse. Accept that No is an answer and that you cannot have / own everything. Move on.

The photo above is one of DiMarca Online’s Peyote Ball designs.

There are enough other beady delights out there to make and marvel at. There are even groups on Facebook where you can bead for designers who search for enthusiasts to test-bead their colourings.
 

You have a tutorial from another designer and wish to use elements from it in your own creation? Make sure that it is ok to use (generally it is), and give credit to the other designer for the element(s). The beautiful star design on the left, by Helen McIntyre, illustrates this well: the legs of her star come from Melanie de Miguel’s class teaching “Byzantine Cross”. Little changes were necessary to create the star, but in its essence, it is Melanie’s cross with a 5th leg. Helen never made a pattern for it because she doesn’t consider it as hers. 

 

Red “Möbius Star”
available from
KrisDesignFSP

You wish to write a tutorial? Investigate before you do. It is a lot of work, and if it exists already, it will probably not sell. If you have a doubt, ask friends whom you can trust if they have seen it before? Kris Empting-Obenland posts photos of her new creations on Facebook and asks if it has already been made, because she doesn’t want to put so much time and effort in something that might already be available for purchase elsewhere. 

When I made my first warped square bail in 2008, shown in the photo left, I was sure that I had invented something! In fact, I did, but I wasn’t the only one. This comes from techniques being the same and the beads having the same size. There is a “math” responsible for similar results in form, especially geometric beadwork. If this happens to you too, don’t be disappointed. You should always be proud of your own finds and not give up making more things in your own sweet way. I still am proud that I made a warped square bail on my own. The pendant is a simplified version of a design called “Carré en Cage” designed the same year by Belgian beader Marielle Baudoin. 

Digital rendition of a Van Gogh painting
offered on www.pixabay.com,
free for all use, without attribution.

If you can copy something others made, be ethical. Many painters copy works by artists like Van Gogh, for example, as an exercise. They are not going to say that it is their painting! They often also pay for a canvas with instructions. If it is an interesting exercise or challenge, don’t brag on social media how clever you feel for having cracked someone’s design! You made something thanks to another person’s efforts and that’s all. Also, don’t let folks believe that it is your own. They will ask you to teach it. Don’t even think of teaching it. That might get you into trouble from a legal point of view. Try to make something new to really be proud of.
 

That said, when things get more complex, like our "further developments", then we are in a grey zone. Our work can be seen as half technique and half "what you do with it makes it unique". Another one might have done it, or be in the process of doing it. Or have done it differently.

In the grey zone we must play fair. If we make something after seeing someone else's work and base our new design on it, we need to give credit, perhaps even ask for permission, etc.

In the grey zone we need elegance of the mind, a kind heart, and honesty. If you know that you could not have made something without seeing or learning something from another designer, you need to give credit and ask for the other designer’s approval to teach.

Helen McIntyre, whose geometric Cellini peyote work is well known, has been confronted with design collision due to the geometric properties of this stitch. For one of her best known Christmas decorations, shown on the left, she used a geometric shape and took it further. She transformed it into a much more elaborate design, but had to teach the basic shape to teach her design. However, she didn’t know who made the pattern of which she only had a small excerpt. She searched a long time and one day found me. 

 We’ve had friendly conversations together, and it appears that she got a copy of a pattern for my Pepper earrings published in 2011 (photo right), for free, on the French forum HDPS.

I am delighted that she made such a beautiful new design with it and she got my permission to teach it.

Why? Well… to contribute to the evolution of the Art of Beading.

Claudia Furthner, who created the lovely Batcycle (and an incredible amount of delightful geometric beadwork) says the following: 

“We are all Beavers! One beaver meets with another beaver, who shows him his dam full of pride. And the first one says Oh, I made one like that too yesterday.”

Photos above: Bead Art by Claudia Furthner - Explorations with shapes and colour gradation. The triangles have an eye on one side and various colour blocks on the other side, which, placed in specific configurations, result in plenty of design possibilities.

Thank you for reading to the end!!

For those who like the Cellini peyote Pepper earrings, you may like my pattern for the 3 Cellini peyote shapes "Pepper, Fork & Yukka flower" or another of my 3D Cellini peyote patterns.

Bead happy and well.

Cath

When you bring your talent to the world, you've got to let it fly...

Sharing seems to be the word 'à la mode' on Planet Bead; it pops up in many a blog post and on social platforms.

For some persons, sharing their knowledge is a panicking idea, because they might not catch the deeper message.
Sharing is not about giving away creative ideas or designs. It is about avoiding a monopoly of techniques, and letting it evolve. Maybe sharing is not the right word.

Clearly, it is everybody's right to choose what they want to make 'public' or not. However, it should be commonly accepted that as soon as a stitch goes out into the world, the stitch becomes everyone's, to play with, to develop, and go beyond limits. That's what it's all about.

Techniques are not copyrightable. You cannot refuse the right to another one to use a particular technique. It's fortunate, because if we didn't have the right to use the techniques, we would not be beading at all.

An example why is it better to share technique:

This square is a 4-pointed 'triangle'

If the 'owner' of the beaded triangle refused to Planet Bead the right to use the nifty threadpath, then CGB Vol. I and absolutely all the other marvellous things which resulted from the nifty threadpath, would not exist. Also, the clever brain who developed this thread path would never have enough of a lifetime to create 1% of what has been made by beaders all over the world with it. Apart from a triangle, the technique can be used for anything. Without it, my Jalisco Bangle would not exist. Ishtar Collar would not exist. Entire books would not exist. Tons of designs would not exist. Not fun.

Why are we so concerned about this matter? Because of this:

This star is an addition of several
4-pointed 'triangles'

The problem of intellectual property brought Computer Science to a scary level of blockage because nobody could use this or that sequence or code anymore (there are gazillions of companies and persons who have patented their little sequence). This or that tiny bit of piece of electronics in their machine is someone else's property, so making something with it becomes that someone else's property.  It takes lawyers huge amounts of time to verify 'if this particular sequence or code had not already been patented'. Young talented future engineers were (are?) completely stuck, and could not move on and create because of this monstruous hijack of Mathematics (because in the end, it is just a certain way of using numbers). This problem might have been solved in the meantime, which I hope, but it illustrates exactly what we, beaders, do not want to happen on Planet Bead.

Jalisco is a 10-pointed 'triangle'

Note that seed beads and mathematics are very similar in nature due to their geometric shape.

Creatives who find a way of making something and who refuse the right to others to use it even if those others find out by themselves how to do it, or a variation, can simply not show their work. However, they better be open to the possibility that another brilliant someone could have the same ideas. 8 billions of human brains on Earth, that is a lot of potential. It happens to me all the time.

We all inspire each other. We all work with the same material. As designers, we know that the stitches are not ours, but what we make with it, is. And when others take it and make it evolve, we have to let it go...

My only goods are my creative ideas

A new page on Facebook called "We support designers" has been created by Sabine Lippert. It is a page where bead shops can show their support to designers like me. Because a shop who sells beads needs designers to continue making designs for their customers. The shops collaborating with the designers and encouraging their customers to purchase our pattern for a workshop - instead of secretly giving copies - is rewarded with this new logo:

As an ethical beader you can also use this logo to show your support to creative minds:

I think that this is very nice. I'd be glad to collaborate with shops who want to organize workshops using my designs and if you are interested in doing that, I'll be glad to discuss this with you. Please feel contact me, because

Thank you!

I scream Ice-cream

Free Herringbone Tutorial

There is a lot going on in the beadworld, but first let me present: Herringbone Stitch Tutorial, a free pattern to show you what my patterns look like and of course for you to have fun with flat Herringbone, or make a regular or a twisted rope. See how well the page layout suits a tablet? That is why I write in landscape and with a big font size.

There are more free patterns on my Facebook page for you. Typically my style, but the work is not  representative of my patterns. This one really shows the way I write and illustrate them. You can share it, copy it, transmit the link. No problem. But please don't do this with my other patterns.

My heart beats for The Beat

I live on a small budget and really need the little extra you bring to my family. You have no idea how grateful I am, dear beader with noble heart who buys my patterns! You have an unknown impact on my life. You not only allow me to buy beads (for new designs for you, and  mental stability for me), but also tea (Oolong -  for my physical health) and Croc's + medical soles for in my shoes which aren't reimbursed by my insurance (I can't walk without these). In addition, you make me dream. Dream that one day I might be able to buy new books or my favorite perfume again (my old bottle is desperately empty since months...). Books and perfume soothen the pain...


I dream of offering a big aquarium to my hubby one day. And maybe one day I won't have to worry about how the heck I'm gonna pay for the new computer... And you know what? I wouldn't need a new computer if I didn't write patterns, because even if the software is free, it needs power to run...and my old machine just can't have it anymore.

I never go on holidays, never go to the theatre or a concert, etc... but that is also photophobia-related and I have to live with it (or actually, without a lot of things). And I do. With passion. I'm a beadist!

At 'work'

What is a beadist? I hope that I don't mis-use the word. One day I saw that the brilliant Jean Campbell used it, and I immediately thought "Wow, a Beading Scientist". A searcher. A researcher (searching again, like "how did I do that, what if I change this") and teacher.
Yes. That is what we, pattern writers, are.
We search for new designs, we explore techniques 'to the bone', try to develop new stitches and threadpaths and tricks and teach them further, to you. We ask for as little money as possible for the huge amount of time going into this work. Yes, work. Many of us could have a job with paycheck at the end of the month. It might seem nice to bead and write tutorials. It is. It is as nice as selling ice-cream. Customers are always happy and smile when they buy it from you. Most tutorials are the price of two flavours on a cone.
Now, it may sound odd, but imagine that people steal your ice cream... You are so lucky to do that job, lucky to have so much ice-cream... hey! how can one make a living with selling ice-cream! You surely do it for the fun, don't need a job.

La Venezia,
Home-made Ice-cream Success Story

Would you continue selling ice-cream? No. You'd find another job, because you need the extra money, because it's a hard world for you too. Some, like me, have no other option than doing this type of work from home. Some beaders choose to stop a 'good' job they didn't like, sacrifice a lot to try to make a living with their passion.

People stand in a row, queuing to buy Daniele's divine icecream... He started with his tiny little ice-cream shop La Venezia all alone 20 years ago. His gelateria now not only pays the rent, but also the wages of several part-time employees... Yes. Those who are successful grant an income, even small, to others. Apparently, selling ice-cream can make a living for more than one person. Of course it has to be good. I remember him saying "that is 'XXX sport' when we said that his vanilla ice cream was the best in the world - which meant the 250th new, improved, recipe. Beading is also a question of doing a good job. Testing it. Recommencing.

Rania - Dangle Earrings
Less then two ice cream

So if certain people buy a pattern, why do they share it with all their contacts via PM or e-mail, of which some contacts share it further with all their contacts, and so on? Because they want to be loved by others. They want others to be grateful for the gift. And so the pattern goes round the world, gets added to huge 'libraries' of patterns stored in computers, sometimes on servers with limited acces - only available to those who are part of the club and won't tell anything... and the designer feels miserable because nobody seems to like what s/he makes. Why not pay for the pattern? It will bring you hours, and maybe years of fun (making and wearing your own jewelry). Ice-cream far less...

And honestly, what's the fun in making beaded jewelry and not being able to show it to all your friends online? Also, wouldn't you love to have your beautiful work showcased by the designer? It feels mighty good to be featured you know! Except the one who paid for the pattern, nobody can lightheartedly showcase her (his) latest beaded marvel, certainly not on FB or in groups, in public... Maybe at meetings  or on forums under cover of a nickname... But hey, the beadist - who also has a nickname on forums -, sooner or later will see it, or his/her friends will report it... And it hurts. It feels like a knife in the heart... It leads to bitterness and grief.

Now, why spend endless hours beading and re-beading and photograph and photoshop and write and illustrate and list and customer service, and, and, and? Because there are customers who are worth it and because we believe and hope that there will always be customers worth it. And we dream of / believe in a world with more honest beaders.

Many designers believe that we can reduce copyright infringement, little by little, through education. There is a new Facebook Group where designers get together to discuss these issues. I am going to join this group because I want these Korean thieves to take down my design, offered a few years ago to Firemountaingems. And because I believe in this 'education' idea. And because I believe in you.

You don't want to bead bad

May I scream? Please buy my patterns! They're good! They're fresh! As good as Ice-cream!