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Guidelines On Copyright For Beaders

The rules on copyright are simple and exist to protect those who produce original work for sale or publication.

What is a breach of copyright?

  • Photocopying books or magazines Teaching from work sheets from someone else's class.
  • Photocopying work sheets from a class to give to friends.
  • Teaching projects from books, magazines, kits or purchased instructions.
  • Copying kits to sell, photocopying kit instructions.
  • Selling work that is someone else’s design.
  • Passing on someone else’s design as your own for whatever purpose.

Why is it important?

Not following the simple rules of copyright will undermine our great hobby. Talented tutors and authors work hard to be innovative, often for small remuneration. By stealing their work through copying or sharing you remove their ability to earn a living. In the end this will simply stop them wanting to move our wonderful hobby forward. Books and magazines are all clearly marked with either a sentence about copyright or the phrase ‘All rights reserved’. For us this means we are permitted to enjoy making the projects in books and magazines as individuals for our own personal entertainment only.

If in doubt ask!

Book publishers, magazine editors, tutors and kit manufacturers will always put you in touch with the original designer and it is their right to agree to allow you to use the design or not. It is also the designer’s right, on discovering a breach of copyright, to prosecute and seek compensation.

It’s easy to be a responsible beader...

  • If you hear that someone went to a good class, contact the tutor and join the next class, or invite the tutor to teach your group.
  • If someone has a great book, buy your own copy. More book sales mean more new beading books will be written and published.
  • If you enjoyed making a kit, buy another one from the same designer. The more kits that are sold, the more likely our designers will be to produce new and exciting projects as kits for us to try.
  • If you see a great design in your friend’s magazine, go and buy yourself a copy of the magazine.
  • If someone asks to buy your beadwork, tell them it's not for sale as it's not your own design, or contact the designer and ask for their permission to sell the piece you have made.
  • If you write an article or sell a piece of work, only ever use your original work.
  • If you exhibit your work, always label it to make it clear if you did not design the piece, clearly acknowledging the original designer.

Be a responsible beader

Help us make stealing people’s creativity history. If you see it happening have the courage to speak out!

These guidelines explain the ‘common sense’ approach to copyright.
They are not intended as legal advice and have not been prepared by copyright lawyers.
© The Beadworkers Guild, all rights reserved.

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