Knitting Pattern Copying and Copyright

At Knitting by Post we work really hard to bring you new and innovative toy knitting patterns that are good quality at a reasonable price.

So that we can continue funding new designs and bring you new knitting patterns, we will protect our intellectual property from people who want to photocopy our work.

It is illegal to copy, sell or distribute any Knitting by Post knitting pattern

Copying patterns and distributing them illegally has down sides for you and for us.

The downside to copied patterns for you

– You will receive an inferior product. Copied patterns may be badly copied and printed on low quality paper.
– You will not receive any support from the seller as they may not even be able to knit!
– You will be breaking the law if you knowingly acquire copied patterns.
– We have to factor the cost of pursuing theives into the price of the patterns we publish.

The downside to copied patterns for us

– We are a small business and we don’t receive financial support for pattern development and it may put us out of business.
– We have to pursue copyright thieves which takes time and money away from what we love to do.
– Our reputation is damaged from inferior quality products.

From time to time our work gets copied. There is something that you can do to help. You can report them to us and we can get it stopped.

Are all knitting patterns copyrighted?

All Knitting by Post knitting patterns are covered under UK law by copyright. A general rule of thumb is that any work is covered until at least 70 years after the designer’s death. Copyright is automatically given to a work and does not need to contain the copyright symbol to apply. You can read about how copyright is applied to knitting patterns in the UK .

Copyright notices are published by the Intellectual Property Office to help explain specific areas of copyright in the UK.

This notice provides advice for people relating to knitting and sewing, including copying, sharing or selling patterns, and selling items made using a pattern.

Here is a link to GOV.UK general advice on Copyright

All Knitting by Post patterns have a copyright notice at the end of each pattern. It is clearly stated that pattern copying sharing and distribution is prohibited.

How to spot a copied knitting pattern

It doesn’t have to be a shady character with a bank of photocopiers for it to be illegal, it can be as simple as someone making the odd copy for a friend. Alternatively it can be someone selling on copies to supplement their income. Either way it is against the law to do it.

Some of the telltale signs of a copied knitting pattern are

Poor quality paper.
A white border round the outside of the pattern.
Professionally printed patterns will print all the way to the edge. However, a copier or printer won’t print all the way to the edge of the paper.
Someone offering you a knitting pattern for free or a reduced price from the retail price on the Knitting by Post website.
Someone emails a copy to you or shares it as a picture on the internet.

Why buy a knitting pattern in the first place?

We would love to design and give all our patterns away. Unfortunately it does take money to run a small design business like ours. Please don’t think that we are making millions by asking for you to pay a modest amount for our work.

Buying a knitting pattern from us is about the price of having a coffee in a cafe. A coffee lasts about 20 minutes but you will get a lifetime of use from one knitting pattern.

Here is an idea where your money goes when you support us and buy a pattern. Premises, lighting, heating, staff and designer salaries, postage and packing costs, banking, transaction fees, accountants, Internet costs such as running this website, marketing, UK tax and the one that we want to avoid. Pursuing people who copy Knitting by Post patterns.

Here is how you can help us to stop this

I have purchased a knitting pattern and I think it is a copy.
I want to report someone selling Knitting by Post copied knitting patterns.

If either of these statements are true, please send us an email in confidence and we will investigate it further. We would never pass on any of your details and we would treat your report with strict confidentiality.

You can also email us on shop@knittingbypost.com