It is year end and like all business folk, we are looking back over the year and seeing what and who have most impacted our business this year.

Personally, family health issues have kept us at home instead of “enjoying” the life of show gypsy, but life happens and you have to roll with it. Instead we have been working on new products and the development of retail & wholesale websites.

The second biggest impact on our business has been what some like to call infringement, but what is in reality the rampant stealing of intellectual property.

Our YARNandTHREAD businesses are heavily involved with the Design Community so tend to be publicly proactive regarding copyright and intellectual property issues.

Sooner or later in any On-Line group discussions, someone starts spouting what I call the

Robin Hood Rationalization

These are the most insidious of the offenders. And, once introduced to the discussion, It is also the point at which further discussion becomes pointless.

They have decided, (without ever checking on the facts) that because they disagree with a law that protects Intellectual Property, and because these laws only exist because of their lack of respect for anyone or anything that stands in the path of what they have decided they are entitled to…

They attempt to cloak their criminal activity by Rationalizing their behavior by saying the law ONLY protects “BIG CORPORATIONS” so they are only stealing from those bad nasty people.

Like Robin Hood, these Thieves, these Pattern Pirates,

believe it is okay to STEAL

Apparently without any thought or concerns for who might be hurt.

Recently one person ranted that their action was justified as an act of Civil Disobedience. She made mention o f the Boston Tea Party. I would respond that there is a vast difference between Civil Disobedience to protest an unjust governmental policy – be that policy about where to sit on the bus to Taxation without Representation.

In fact, the reference to the Boston Tea Party, an act having to do with Taxation and how that was
considered Robbery without at Gun, is used to justify a similar act, the Stealing of a livelihood from the individual who has worked to create the pattern, chart or instructions you are enjoying.

I submit that behavior has more in common with Machevelli than Robin Hood.

Ignoring the fact that without BIG CORPORATIONS with the Deep Pockets to defending their Coroporate interests, there would be no viable protections for the tiny Microscopic Business of the Needle & Fiber Arts Independent Self-Publishers to have any protection at all.

Next time, you download a copy that someone else is illegally offering

Next time, before you STEAL (not share) an illegal copy of a pattern or chart –

Next time you offer to make Counterfeit copy of a Pattern or Chart or other Intellectual Property

Ask yourself,
Do I really want to be a petty criminal?
Do I really want to teach others that Stealing is Okay?

Everyone loves the myth of Robin Hood, and we seem to live in a Machiavellian Society.

Yet, it that really who you want to be. When all is said and done, nothing more than a common thief?