The Importance of Copyright Protection

This is supposed to be a sweater.  It's not going very well.  This is attempt number three.

My goal this year is to crochet a sweater that I can wear in public.  I found these directions on the internet, and they don't seem to be complete.  I had to go to the local yarn shop to get suggestions for yarn and fitting.  I'm tempted to ditch this project for the crochet along pattern the shop is sponsoring.

I know I will learn better if I have an expert to guide me, a group of fellow crocheters for support, and most importantly, a professionally designed pattern.  A sweater I can wear proudly will be worth the extra money I spend.

Recently I read how designers find it difficult to get paid for their work, because of how easy it is to share them for free on the internet.  A well-written design takes time and talent.  They deserve to be paid.  Once people would use a copy machine to make duplicate patterns to distribute.  Now that most patterns are published digitally, they are frequently posted by others without permission.  

Copyright protection adds value to the work of all writers.  It doesn't matter if it's an article, a novel, a pattern, or curriculum.