A pattern does NOT need to have a copyright symbol or words to that effect on it to be copyrighted. As soon as an
original work is completed, the law says that the author or artist AUTOMATICALLY owns the rights to it, regardless
of displaying those rights or not.
Copyrights are upheld for the entire life of the artist or author plus an additional 70 years after their death!
The person who owns the copyright is the ONLY one who can:
Reproduce/make copies of the design/pattern
Display the design/pattern publicly and
Distribute the design/pattern by sale or lending
Copyrights do NOT need to be registered with the US Copyright office in order to be official or upheld by law.
As explained above, that protection is automatic
Copyrights are upheld and protected by US Federal Law.
As far as US copyrights extending to other countries, there are over 100 countries that agree to honor each other's copyrights.
So "fair use" really does not apply when you take someone elses copyrighted work and use without permission,
as Tabberone has done on her website.
