The Australian Copyright Council provides general information for craftworkers and artists on its website, and provides downloadable information sheets. The EGV follows all ACC recommendations.
CLASSES AND COPYRIGHT
The Education Subcommittee of the EGV
also published specific policy in Threadlines, June 2008
regarding designs, instructions and tutors' notes from classes:
"For some years Guild tutors have been aware that some of their students have been copying class notes to give to their friends and even to teach outside the Guild for a teaching fee, without seeking permission from the tutor. Unauthorised copying is a problem faced by many craftspeople, not just in Australia but across the world.
Tutors spend a lot of time and effort in preparing their class notes and samplers, and the resultant work and notes are the property of that tutor. It is no wonder that a tutor who finds copies of her work being used elsewhere is resentful that her material has been stolen by one of her students. Stolen may seem a strong word to use, yet stealing is exactly what it is.
After seeking legal advice on this matter, the Guild has issued a policy document, which is given below for members’ guidance.
EGV POLICY: COPYRIGHT & CLASSES
Guild members should be aware that the design of projects taught at the Guild, and the notes and drawings provided by the tutor are the intellectual property of the author. They are protected by Australian copyright law, which prohibits their reproduction by any other person for the purpose of teaching groups or individuals, whether or not a fee is charged, without the permission of the tutor.
Class notes and design drawings are distributed to class participants for their own personal use and solely for the purpose of the class. They must not be copied or otherwise reproduced for any other purpose without the written permission of the tutor.
The stitches themselves are free of copyright, but the resultant work is protected by Australian copyright law as a work of artistic craftsmanship. It is frequently assumed that minor variations to a design, such as a change to the colour scheme or a substitution of a new stitch for a stitch in the original design, is sufficient to avoid infringement of copyright. This is not the case if what is done amounts, in a qualitative sense, to reproduction of the original work, in the sense that it still embodies the same essential appearance.
When class work bearing the tutor’s design is displayed at the Guild or elsewhere, the tutor must be acknowledged as the designer.
Original works of the tutor are subject to the Moral Rights provision of the Copyright Act, giving the author the right to be identified as the author of the work and the right of integrity, protecting the work from any treatment by others that destroys or devalues its essential artistic quality."
Download a copy of this policy
