Wednesday, September 22, 2010

S.C.A.N. - and what it actually means


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Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The story behind the theft of the printed chart.

Designers in the needlework industry lose thousands of dollars a day due to illegal copying, scanning, uploading and downloading of their charts.  This loss trickles down to the shop owner who didn't make the pattern sale and to the distributor who didn't sell it to the shop owner.  Everyone along that chain loses something.  And there, sitting at the very bottom of that chain is the stitcher who will eventually lose his or her favorite designer because they simply have had enough.  It's happening now, today.  Designers are setting their needlework aside in favor of other endeavors, ones that cannot be copied and "shared" via copy machines and the Internet.

A very large group of designers who have been battling these infringements have made some progress in the last year toward ending some of the unlawful theft of charts.  And fortunately once caught, some of the stitchers who had been involved in the illegal exchanges not only quit but have helped educate others.  However in the meantime theft has increased and it is putting the industry on a teeter-totter.


Many myths surround copyright and the moral judgment infringers make on the designers whose work is being copied.  Statements are made that designs make "enough" money or they are only in it (design work) for the glory and the money.  All of these statements are false.  We have all heard that needlework has been on a decline for years and salaries that designers once made are long gone.  For this exact reason we are seeing designers resign from the profession or get jobs outside of their companies to make ends meet.


* If you are a stitcher and have paid for your chart in a brick and mortar or online shop, pat yourself on the back.  The industry thanks you! 
* If you have received your charts through copies or illegal downloads, YOU are the problem. 
* It is NEVER ok to steal, and if you obtained a chart illegally you have done just that.