Asking For Patterns: Opinions, Please

[ttownfire]

I don't think you have much of a case if the item is "knocked off." Even if its damn near identical. Especially if you don't have some sort of protection on that design.

Look at the all the Chinese Knock-offs of sewing machines for example. If the major manufacturers thought they had a case, they would sue the pants off these Chinese companies. The simple fact is, most anything is damn hard to protect design wise and even harder if its simply a construction method on the front end. Meaning, its hard and expensive to get a patent, copyright in the first place. Then once you tally up the time in court and fees associated with fighting an infringement case, you're better off just walking away to design something else.

There is a reason why "first to market" is better than "protection." People reverse engineer things all the time for mass manufacture. In my opinion, you should just expect it and therefore constantly strive for better designs.

[GregGaub]

Simple answer to a simple question:

It doesn't hurt to ask. I don't think it's rude to ask at all. In fact, I'd say it's complimentary to ask for a pattern. It says that they admire the work and wish to replicate it.

Where rudeness comes in, as pointed out previously, is when the asker implies that it's the designer's duty to give out the pattern. It's rude to tell the person to give you the pattern. It's rude to get the pattern and show no gratitude. It's NOT rude to ask for it. If the designer wants to keep it to him/herself, then they say no, and that's the end of it. If the asker does anything but accept that answer, then you've got a jerk on your hands.

I'll give an example... a close friend of mine develops a wildly popular Palm OS app that is FREEware. He did it because he was passionate about software and the app was something he himself needed. He shared it with the community and they drank it in happily. At first, he accepted post cards as "payment" from anyone who felt so inclined, but even had to stop that because he had gotten enough to fill multiple boxes with post cards. Unfortunately, after a while, people began to feel entitled to his free work. Some people literally said that he OWED them/the community to add some feature or another, or to make a version that worked on whatever shiny new device they just started carrying. I'm sure you can guess what happened. He stopped developing the app. He stopped answering questions on the support forums for it. When people felt entitled and ungrateful is when he stopped giving.

There's nothing wrong with asking for something. HOW you ask and what you do with the response is the important part.

[Bree]

I think I will offer an opinion. I don't think there is anything wrong with asking. Indeed, I think it is wrong not to ask. Patterns for projects belong to the maker. Patterns within projects belong to the maker. The maker may or may not be willing to share. The maker's decision to share may well depend upon your intended use. One use may be fine while another may be forbidden by both the maker and the laws governing copyright.

Best practice is to state your intended purpose and ask the maker's permission. Abide by the maker's decision and respect his or her rights. You will never ever go wrong following this principle. It is really just an instantiation of the Golden Rule... Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

My $.02.