Kite Making Legal & Moral Issues

In the beginning I decided I would like to make a kite. I then decided that I would make a copy of my Revolution EXP as a) I like it, b) I had seen other people flying custom Revolution and they looked very nice indeed, and c) I knew it would be cheap as I had all the spars and stuff.

Background

Thinking this was a harmless (and common) thing I asked various questions on the rec.kites usenet group. And I got some very angry responses saying what I was doing was illegal as I was copying a commercial & patented kite (which it was). I responded in an angry way basically saying that making it for personal use was legal in the UK.

However reading some of the other responses and doing some research led me to believe that it's not that simple. It appears that the personal use thing is a bit of an urban myth - if it's true I can't find it on the UK patent office web site.

So here are my thoughts, but bear in mind I am no expert in law, so what I put here is not advice to do or not do do, it's just thought to help you make you own mind up. And read the archives of rec.kites - not just my posts, but read old posts as well.

The Arguments For

How else are you to learn the basics of kite making? How else are you going to know how a kite flies if you don't start by copying something you know?
You get the kite you like in the colour and design you like.
If you are only replacing the damaged sail is it really a problem? You only end up with one kite flyable at the end.
You aren't harming the kite world economy because you weren't going to be buying that kite anyway - in fact since you have just purchased the official revolution spars (or whatever) you are actually giving money to the overall kite economy.
The kite you want is really over priced/not available in your country - there is no other way of getting it other that doing it yourself.
Long term good can come as people you like making kites will go on to explore variation to the commercial design and may, just may, come up with something of interest to the original kite company that can feed into the next generation of kites. Even if that doesn't happen then the illegal copier will go onto make non commercial design off the Internet/books, or even their own designs. And it is not unheard of that someone who starts by copying a design because they couldn't afford it, ends up working in the kite industry and more than recoups the original costs lost by the copy. We need the long, not short, view.
Everyone does it - go to any kite festival, look at any site on the Internet & I bet you will see pictures of copied kites.

The Arguments Against

It's illegal - end of story, no exceptions or excuses. Legal action could follow if the patent owner feels like pursuing it with you - you are in the wrong & have no defence - even if you are an individual. Customs could (if they so wish) seize the copied kite upon entry to the US.
You are harming the long term viability of the kite industry - the kite you are copying will deprive both your kite shop (be it local or online or whatever) of income as well as the manufacturer and designers.
If your copied kite is not of high quality then the official maker will also get a bad name for something they did not make.
How would you like an idea that you have worked on for a long time (and all kites do take a long time to design and test) to be freely copied by people all over the world, without giving you any credit let alone money?
What you will get is a substandard product that hasn't the build quality or the looks of the genuine article - people will know that you have ripped off someone else's design and you will lose their respect.
If you can't afford the kite you want then tough! Kites aren't necessary for life. Get a job and save up if you want a proper kite, otherwise do something else.
Just because lot of people do it doesn't make it right - after all 10,000,000 lemmings can't be wrong can they?

The Bottom Line!

My thoughts on the moral rather than legal issues are like this:

Totally Wrong Copying a commercial & patented design to sell. As far as I can see this is a very big moral and legal no-no and if/when it comes to the attention of the patent owner almost certainly will result in legal action against you.

Sort of Wrong Making a copy of a commercial kite as a gift to a friend or relative. Borrowing someone else's kite to measure and effectively clone. Copy exactly your own kite, down to all the last details & graphics - again cloning.

Sort of OK Making a personal copy of a kite you own for your own enjoyment. Making a copy of a commercial kite you have seen, but you are guessing as to virtually everything.

Totally OK Making a kite from you own design.

It's up to you! Just think about what you are doing & why you are doing it. You will be able to find out my views by looking elsewhere, both here on the kitejan site, and what I have written elsewhere - just because I have come to a conclusion that works for me morally doesn't mean that you don't have to work it out for yourself.

Check out the kite designer Peter Lynn's thoughts about copying his commercial designs from the February 2000 newsletter (scroll down to February).

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