For more than 35 years, Digitalfire has been the world's foremost public knowledge base for ceramics. It is the accumulated work of generations of potters, educators, students, technicians, and manufacturers. More than a website, it is a living library and a shared commons that has educated and supported hundreds of thousands of ceramic artists around the world.

Some of the knowledge preserved within Digitalfire exists nowhere else. Losing it would be the equivalent of closing a great public library and destroying irreplaceable volumes of our collective history and technical knowledge.

Plainsman Clays has publicly recognized Digitalfire as "an incredible resource" and expressed its hope that it remains available for many years to come. We ask Plainsman to match those words with meaningful action.

Tony Hansen has stated that while it is technically possible to separate the disputed data required for legal compliance, the immense size and complexity of the Digitalfire database make that work impossible for him to undertake alone.

We therefore call upon Plainsman Clays to immediately work with Tony Hansen to preserve public access to the Digitalfire Reference Library. If compliance with Plainsman's intellectual property requirements requires the technical separation of disputed data, Plainsman should fund that work and ensure there is no interruption in public access to the Digitalfire Reference Library.

The ceramics community is not asking Plainsman Clays to surrender its intellectual property rights. We are asking the company to exercise those rights responsibly, in a way that preserves one of the most important educational resources our field has ever known.

This is a defining moment. Plainsman Clays has the opportunity to demonstrate that it values not only its intellectual property, but also the global ceramics community that helped make Digitalfire an indispensable resource for generations.

Save the library. Preserve the knowledge. Protect the commons.