Question on selling patterns?

[Amray767]

ok I have some 80's crochet patterns, I see two people selling the same ones on etsy? So my question is, you think I could sell them on ravelry.com, and then post the picture and link from ravelry on my website? I see two patterns from the same book collection I have on ravelry but then I see some that dont have links either, so Im unsure about putting them on ravelry. I dont know if anyone knows anything about this? thanks for any feedback.

[ILikeCrochet]

I not sure about Ravelry terms of selling vintage. You can sell on Etsy as they allow it. You can also sell on eBay. Are you scanning them or selling the actual leaflet?

[Amray767]

was wondering if I could do a pdf pattern, as a scan?

[ILikeCrochet]

@Amray767 Normally the answer would be NO you can't do that but copyright on vintage is different. You'll have to check with the designer/publisher. Here is a guide you can look at Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States

[Nova55]

According to what I found at Ms Yarnaholic's School for Wayward Skeins, Copyright FAQ for Knitters, the law for vintage or antique patterns is anything published before 1/1/1924, and they are in the public domain. Anything 1978 or younger you have to contact the copyright holder to get permission to sell individual patterns. If you have a book or booklet, you can sell it intact (like you would sell a book at a garage sale), as long as it is the only copy you have. There are quite a few copyright laws that make me ask the question "But who's going to know - and how are they going to find out?" I'm sure there were reasons that these laws were put in place, but under normal conditions some of these laws seem extremely picky.

[Nova55]

Ok, just went to the "Copyright Term....United States" and this guide is fantastic! Much better than the one I quoted. Thank you, ILikeCrochet!