What I find most interesting about it is that most people fall smack in the middle of the debate, no-one chose the options that either completely condemned copying or that condoned it. So despite the rather virulent comments about copying left on some of the blogs, it seems as though most of us are ready to give it a go and everyone is willing to contemplate it, even if we don't go through with it. We're also not big on buying when we think we could make it ourselves! I think to really judge the mood out there you'd have to do a survey and allow open-ended answers because it's very hard to judge what people think when you only give them a few choices. However, I get the impression, and it'd be interesting to hear what you all think about it too, that people are fairly happy to copy things they see on the internet with a few conditions. Either they keep it to themselves all private-like (out of shame? I don't know and I actually voted for it!) or they use it as inspiration (I voted for this one too). Not that I'm entirely sure how seperate inspiration and copying really are at times! Based on the 'other' answers, crediting the original designer seems to be considered the right thing to do, though I really stuffed up on #3 and should have made it two, one option with credit and one without.
The two questions that I think are actually most interesting are #5 and 6 because they deal with the grey area surrounding this issue. The others are more clear-cut in their morality, more black and white. Although I didn't vote for either of those choices I'd have to say that I'd probably come down with a yes for 5 and a no for 6. Why I would think it's ok for me to copy a big company but not an independent is completely unexplainable in any logical way, does it have to do with helping the little person vs. 'sticking it to the man'? The chances of getting caught by either party? The feeling of being closer to someone who might be a fellow blogger? The fact you know what they look like? I mean really, if I have qualms about that kind of thing doesn't it suggest that perhaps I have a feeling that I'm stealing? #6 and the 10% is, from what I can gather, an crafting urban myth. Though that's based on the idea that creators have some control over their product/pattern/idea which appears not to be the case in large part in the States though perhaps not in the rest of the world.
So that's just my very quick take on it and while there were no huge surprises in the results I think it's interesting none-the-less. Would love to hear your thoughts and comments! I won't close the poll down, perhaps just pop it in the sidebar somewhere and revist it in a bit.
