Who Owns a Tarot Spread?

Like rwcarter said, I'm not sure you can copyright spreads, like recipes. Plus I'm not sure the psychic site VintageButtons mentioned did anything bad. I mean, they aren't making money "off the spread," in the sense that they are selling the spread itself. They're selling their Tarot reading using that spread. If I were a professional Tarot reader I really can't see myself beginning to tell people "yeah so there's an online forum called AT and... this spread is one I learned there and it was written by user so and so..." The same would probably go if I were a professional reader with a website that told people what spreads I used. I'm using the spread, I'm not telling people that if they give me money I will give it to them.

Even if the spread was copyrighted, which is doubtful, I would say that would constitute fair use, even if no acknowledgement is given to the source. Plus, it raises the question if every forum post is a "work" that falls under copyright protection. Spread or not, I doubt it.

AJ said:

I'm sorry you were thieved...but courtesy and common sense are a thing of the past.

Click to expand...

Exactly this ....

I don't know that I agree that the site isn't making money off the spread. I know that if I saw a spread advertised (as they're doing) that appealed to me it might be the deciding factor of whether or not I actually bought the reading. No, of course, they're not actually giving the spread away, I concede that fact but I guess, for me anyway, it's the principle of the matter. I also agree that it would seem irrelevant to a person asking for a reading (not familiar with Tarot and all it's accoutrements) the source of the spread the reader used, unless of course they also read cards and wanted to use it. But even that doesn't bother me. I don't know, I guess it seems like a violation of good faith in a way. I put it on here to share with others learning to read and I'm just surprised that someone from here would take it without saying anything and use it as their own in the great beyond and gain financially from it. I'm conflicted about it to be honest. Lesson learned, I put it out there. Sorry to hijack your thread, Metafizzypop.

It doesn't bother me when people hijack my threads. It bothers me when people hijack my spreads

VintageButtons said:

Uggh, your post inspired me to check if any of the spreads I posted here a long time ago were also out there on the web and sure enough, one was, exact word for word, on a psychic readings for money site. No credit whatsoever to Aeclectic or myself.

Click to expand...

This doesn't surprise me one tiny bit. I figured I couldn't possibly be the only victim of TSP (Tarot Spread Piracy). Why would I be? There's thousands of spreads over in the Spreads forum. And anybody can walk in to look at them.

I've posted a lot of spreads on AT, and I see them get used too, over in Your Readings. But that's OK. It's the reason I posted my spreads in the first place. They're for fellow AT people to use. Not for outsiders to take and slap around all over the interwebberzz anywhere they please.

I noticed that the Your Readings section isn't accessible by people who are not registered members of AT. I think it would be a good idea to treat the Tarot Spread forum the same way. After all, it's full of people's intellectual property. Why shouldn't that property be protected from casual lurkers (and potential thieves)?

Technically, if you research it a little bit, I think there's a statement in the agreement we sign when we join that says everything posted here belongs to Aeclectic Tarot, so unless that's been changed, then this is a moot point.

I simply do not understand the big deal if somebody posts a spread without giving credit. Do we really lead such shallow lives that a Tarot spread becomes precious to us? I'd wager anything that there's not a spread that's ever been invented that wasn't "copied" by someone else...except that it wasn't copied, it was one that probably at least 100s of others had also made up. If you can't patent it and you can't claim copyright, then just get the hell over it. That's my vote.

And right here where all can see, if you see a spread that I've "invented" and posted here on AT somewhere, feel free. Use it. You don't have to give me credit. If I'm recognized for something, I want it to be something of true legacy value. Like a short story that was so good it was made into a movie. That's one of my dreams. Another is to write something that will appear in a college textbook after I'm gone like the writings of Steinbeck or Hemingway. (Hey, it's my dream---I'll tell it like I want to. lol ) If I were to write a book and make up all the spreads in it from scratch and someone re=published the book, then I'd be upset. But there are to are too many more important things in life that I want to be remembered for than making up a Tarot spread and then making sure nobody else could use it or not use it without giving credit to me. That's just my own opinion, though, and I realize that.

Obviously mine isn't going to be a popular opinion, and if it's that important to some of you, I respect your right to feel that way. But I just don't, that's all.

This discussion does remind me, though, that if I use a spread from the index here that someone's posted, that I need to give credit because it really is important to some people and I need to give credit in respect for them. I hope everyone else will remember to do that, too.

Metafizzypop said:

I noticed that the Your Readings section isn't accessible by people who are not registered members of AT. I think it would be a good idea to treat the Tarot Spread forum the same way. After all, it's full of people's intellectual property. Why shouldn't that property be protected from casual lurkers (and potential thieves)?

Click to expand...

That would be Solandia's decision to make as she owns Aeclectic. So you should ping her. I don't see it happening because it could have a negative effect on traffic to the whole Aeclectic website, which could have a domino effect on other things. But again, that's her decision to make.

Rodney

rwcarter said:

That would be Solandia's decision to make as she owns Aeclectic. So you should ping her. I don't see it happening because it could have a negative effect on traffic to the whole Aeclectic website, which could have a domino effect on other things. But again, that's her decision to make.

Rodney

Click to expand...

Besides that, all a person has to do is join with the enlarged membership and they could go to that sub-forum anyway. That wouldn't prevent anyone with nefarious intentions from just upgrading and gaining access to that forum.

Grizabella said:

This discussion does remind me, though, that if I use a spread from the index here that someone's posted, that I need to give credit because it really is important to some people and I need to give credit in respect for them. I hope everyone else will remember to do that, too.

Click to expand...

On the giving credit tip and in counterpoint to the Tarot Spreads Collection book, I have almost 700 spreads that I've compiled into a collection. I've actually taken the time to reproduce each spread into an Excel spreadsheet that can either be printed off or used as a template for my reading. But in the header of each spread I have listed the source, be it a book, Aeclectic or one I've created myself. So I know my sources and can give credit where credit is due.

Rodney

"It doesn't bother me when people hijack my threads. It bothers me when people hijack my spreads "

Hahaha..Love this.

Grizabella said:

Technically, if you research it a little bit, I think there's a statement in the agreement we sign when we join that says everything posted here belongs to Aeclectic Tarot, so unless that's been changed, then this is a moot point.

I simply do not understand the big deal if somebody posts a spread without giving credit. Do we really lead such shallow lives that a Tarot spread becomes precious to us? I'd wager anything that there's not a spread that's ever been invented that wasn't "copied" by someone else...except that it wasn't copied, it was one that probably at least 100s of others had also made up. If you can't patent it and you can't claim copyright, then just get the hell over it. That's my vote.

Click to expand...

Actually, I agree with you. And to be honest, the attitude of 'it's my spread and everyone has to recognize it's my spread' makes me weary of using any spread from the spreads subboard. Because while I'm usually very good at giving credit where credit is due... Well, what if I forget?