Can I sell Putz houses based on downloaded designs?

[paulrace]

A reader writes:

Thank you for the awesome information that your site provides! I started seeing Putz houses here and there and decided to make one...an obsession has been born! I downloaded some free templates (including yours). Your instructions are great and I like to follow your suggestions because I feel that your work is of quality. I have made 3 so far. I think I would like to try to sell some...here is my question...is it legal for me to sell something I have crafted using someone else's template? Any information you may be able to give me is appreciated!

----Our Reply------Please sign in and add yours if you wish------------

Thanks for getting in touch. I'm very sorry to get back to you so slowly, but I started getting slammed about Labor Day and sometimes it takes me until Easter to "dig out." I'm glad you've had fun building your putz houses, and I hope you had a nice village set up for Christmas.

Regarding your question about selling houses based on other folks' plans, it's technically illegal, but even more important (to me), some of the folks who supply these plans tend to take it personally and stop sending us new plans to publish when they see other folks profiting from their hard work.

The other thing to consider is that tens of thousands of folk have access to those plans. If you don't believe me, check out putz houses on Etsy, and see how many of them have been based on the SAME plans, plans they found on our sites. The only thing that differentiates them is that one person uses a different color glitter, or another person uses a brush tree instead of a luffa tree and so on. The vast majority are nowhere near as well-made or attractive as the original they were copied from. But they will provide a great deal of competition for YOUR product.

Tell you what, after you've done a couple of our projects to "get the hang of it," go to the "House of the Month Pages" on the Papa Ted's Archives and look for projects that nobody else is doing yet. (Nobody gets upset if you do a reproduction of an original 1929-1964 house).

House of the Month pages are here:

http://cardboardchristmas.com/papateds/HomMAIN.html

Best of luck and have a Happy New Year - Paul