a question on ethics (and copyright)...informal poll

S

siguy

Joined
Aug 26, 2006
Messages
3,799
so i was just looking around at different knives being made by custom makers these days, and noticing that people are copying patterns like the green river skinner and the canadian belt knife...

i am thinking about copying something like the schrade sharpfinger for my own use, since they no longer make them in USA or with what i consider good materials, and i don't know if i would want to hunt a used one down on the bay or anything.

my question is would it be okay ethically to make more of those sharpfinger clones and sell them, clearly marked as copies of course? is it okay for people to copy the green river skinner and canadian belt knife because these have been around for so long and they are fairly universal?

if i felt that it would be okay to copy and sell sharpfingers, would it be possible for me to be taken to court by whoever bought schrade over copyright, even if i didn't call it that? i assume yes, because patterns can be copyrighted and not just names...

so what say you makers (or any non-makers hanging out here)?
 
You would be much more in a problem area if you called them a copy. It is copies that are an infringement.
Make no reference to the Sharpfinger and Schrade, and it only your version of a sharpfinger like knife. While shapes can be and are patented, the infringement is difficult to prove in most cases, and rarely defended.

That said, unless you plan on manufacturing hundreds or thousands of them, it will not be an issue, as long as you don't mark them Schrade or Sharpfinger.
Stacy
 
Last edited:
Don't call them copies or use the original name.

Go ahead and make the knife, but make small changes. Use a different thickness of steel, change the shape of the hande a wee tad. Usually knife patterns tend to evolve from maker to maker, and with the materials and tools used.


For instance the Bowie knife has been evolving from maker to maker, though the blade more or less is still roughly the same shape.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top