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glaze 'copyrights' (was walking on eggshells)

updated sat 2 feb 02

 

Orchard Valley Ceramic Arts Guild on fri 1 feb 02


Much of the discussion on this topic has repeated
the misconception that glazes are protected by
copyrights. Lists of ingredients, as well as most
process descriptions, are *not* protected by
copyright law, which was drafted to protect creative
expression.

Glaze formulas can, in principle, be protected by
patent law. In practice, I think this would be very
difficult, because of existing "prior art."

I don't want to be pedantic about this, but I think it's
important for ClayArters to understand that they
are not getting any legal protection when the put a
copyright notice on a glaze formula (even if that formula
is included in a copyrighted work).

We as individuals can choose to respect the wishes of
the authors (which I do) - but please let's be clear that
this is an ethical decision, not a legal one.

Regards,

Bob
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Bob Nicholson
Webmaster, Orchard Valley Ceramic Arts Guild
http://www.ovcag.org/