It's really hard to get knitters riled up (OK, that's not really true) but here's some news that's sure to annoy knitters, science fiction fans and all who love freedom (well, most of them, anyway).
The BBC ordered a British knitter to take down her patterns based on "Dr. Who" creatures like the Ood, the Dalex and the Andipose because they supposedly violate the BBC's copyright. They're also just about the cutest damn things ever -- and I never thought a blob of fat could be cute.
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The knitter says this is completely silly, because tons of other people have Who knits (and someday I really am going to knit a Tom Baker style
scarf) and tons of other people have knit designs based on other copyrighted objects, characters and what have you.
Usually no one bats an eye so long as the patterns aren't being sold, which these weren't. Maybe the BBC is planning a line of plush aliens? Or they just know that the franchise is so big right now, they can pull a George Lucas and try to control everything.
I had come across the Dalex a couple weeks ago, and now I'm sad I decided to save a tree and not print out the pattern. Here's hoping this will be resolved soon and we can all get back to our knitting, or, in the case of the BBC, back to making quality television and remembering that part of its mission is to foster creativity.