I think that the Cecil Higgins Museum is missing a bet when they don't sell a high def scan of this mat. Where is their initiative? Is there any evidence that Ruth Bean actually obtained ownership of the original design when they did the work of pricking and having someone make the piece? If not, then they own the copyright to their work, the pricking and the interpretation of it by Patricia Bury, assuming that she didn't keep the right to that. I think that the working up of the pattern is a lot more of a bit of creative work than the making of the pricking. In fact, where is Mrs. Dixon in all this, since she worked the original mat circa 1926. Perhaps, Ruth Bean obtained the right to make and publish the pricking from Miss Channer or her heirs, but not exclusive rights to the original design, much as in my writing I grant the right of first publication to the IOLI, but retain the copyright. The IOLI has copyright to the font and the layout only, because those are the things they added to my work. If the copyright to the design resided in Miss Channer, I suppose it would have passed to her heirs when she died. Does anyone know who her heirs are, and whether they have any interest in suppressing the use of her designs. Perhaps, if asked, they would feel that she would have wanted to share the work. (They might even want to give it to Creative Commons.) In the event of a court case regarding who owns the rights to a design, I believe it is customary to present work that shows the development of the design through various stages, rather than to simply accept a verbal claim to the design. As such, I doubt that anyone has a portfolio of Miss Channers's design development that they could use to support a claim that she developed the design. In fact, if you had such a portfolio it might actually illuminate a different scenario, that she may have adapted it from a traditional design or someone else's design, possibly even a piece of lace she purchased. Another issue, is whether in fact Miss Channer owned the copyright. According to Diana: A picture of the original mat appeared in Miss Channers book 'Practical Lacemaking' published in 1928. "Worked by a student at the Bedford Technical Institute. Design by C.C. Channer". If Miss Channer was an employee of the Bedford Technical Institute the design might well be "work for hire" in which case it is the Bedford Technical Institute or its successors who owns the copyright. (At least that is how it would be in the US.) Devon
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