There were a couple of articles in July that had a lot of interest, both about sewing to sell. How to price your work and a round up of projects that are good to sell.
Good to see so many people were interested in this subject, but at the same time I got such a lot of emails telling me that it was illegal to sell things you had made from either someone else's sewing pattern or from licensed fabric. Or that you had to buy a licence from the pattern designer if you wanted to sell an item made from their pattern, known as a cottage licence. Or that if you want to make more than one item (such as 3 matching bridesmaid dresses) that you have to buy a new pattern for each person! Sadly it only proves that there is a lot of misinformation out there that is holding you and your business back!
So I got in touch with a couple of contacts, one of whom is a lawyer, and another who has a lot of personal experience in copyright law, and scoured the internet looking for definitive advice on this subject. There is too much nonsense out there. I had to wade through a lot of people who were apparently stating a fact but in the end were just really passing on hearsay and opinion without any basis in fact at all, and thereby just perpetuating the myth that you cannot sell certain items.
I'm trying to put the record straight here in an easy to understand way, but at the same time it is a VERY complicated area and opinions, even legal opinions, can sometimes vary. Please therefore make your own enquiries with your lawyer if you wish to set up any kind of business and think these sort of restrictions might apply to you and your products. Different laws may also apply to different regions of the world. Check your local laws.
Sewing pattern Copyright law – myths debunked
I'm aware that some of which I state here below may be controversial, and not everyone will either agree with me or like what I say. Of course as usual all comments and feedback are welcome. If you do make a statement of fact that relates to the law regarding sewing patterns and copyright, that contradicts any of these statements below, please provide a source in law where such information can be found and verified. Saying this isn't true because I read it on the internet, only provides even more confusion and passes on inaccurate information which is something we are trying to avoid.
photo credit: Disagreement via photopin (licence)
1 – If you make something yourself from a commercially available sewing pattern, it is illegal to sell it because of copyright laws.
Not true. A sewing pattern itself may be subject to copyright law, but that is only the pattern illustrations, diagrams, written instructions and the pattern envelope art (sometimes, again there are limitations). That means that you cannot simply photocopy or scan in the sewing pattern and then sell copies of it. Naturally, I'm sure you wouldn't do that. Although if you look on Etsy there are plenty of seemingly illegal copies of sewing/knitting patterns and even scanned copies of whole books on there. But that's another matter for another day…
You CAN sell things that you make from sewing patterns, with only minor limitations (see later). A pattern is simply that – a template to follow to create a uniform item. You add your own artistic flare to what you create using that template. What you make is your property and is yours to do with as you will.
In legal-ese. Patterns for clothing and other useful items generally are not copyrightable. See Supreme Court – Baker v Selden, 101 U.S. 99, (1878). Even if patterns were copyrightable, the product made from the pattern would not be covered by the copyright. see Baker v Selden, (1878). Copyright owners only have the rights defined under copyright law and cannot make statements that restrict the subsequent use of their product once they have sold it. see Supreme Court – Bobbs-Merrill Co. v. Straus, 210 U.S. 339, (1908)
As you can see, these Supreme Court rulings established certain factors over 100 years ago, and those have not changed since that time.
You might enjoy this interesting TED Talk about copyright in the fashion industry that explains how utilitarian items cannot be subject to copyright.
So if I saw a cat-walk dress I loved, I could create a pattern for how to make a similar item and you could all sew up similar dresses, no problem. That's how the high-street stores are able to create copies of designer clothing.
2 – If you buy an ‘indie' pattern and then find right at the end it says for personal use only, or not for commercial use etc, then you aren't allowed to sell any items you make using that pattern.
Not true. These terms are trying to impose a contract between the pattern seller and the buyer. But for a contract to be legally binding, both parties have to be fully aware of all of the terms of that contract and both expressly agree to them before entering into that contract – at the point of the purchase of the pattern.
In legal-ese. Unless the purchaser agrees to the restriction before the sale. the limitations on the product do not apply. (Bobbs-Merrill Co. v. Straus) The non-commercial limitation is not legally binding upon the purchaser because the manufacturer lacks the legal standing to make such demands.
3 – What about the designers who want to charge you for a ‘licence' to sell what you made from their pattern?
Angel licences, sometimes called cottage licences, are agreements between two parties. If you purchase the pattern without first agreeing to limitations the same applies as in #2. These licences are attempts by designers to get around copyright law. Don't fall for it and pay out money for a licence you don't need and isn't worth anything.
If a pattern designer expresses their wish that you do not sell items created from the pattern, then you may decide to simply use another pattern, there are lots out there. Don't waste your time and money on pattern designers who are overly-restrictive or unco-operative.
photo credit: Pattern via photopin (licence)
4 – You can't sell items made with ‘licensed' fabric, such as Dr Who fabric. That's illegal and the BBC will come after you for making forgeries, illegal copies of their products or going outside of the licence agreement for the fabric.
Not necessarily true. Licensed fabric means the design was licensed by the rights owner to be manufactured. The licence is between those two parties, not between the manufacturer and the fabric buyer. There is no license on the use of the fabric as long as the user insures that when selling the items it is very clear to any potential purchaser that the product is not an officially licensed product but rather made from licensed fabric. We suggest users include a Disclaimer when advertising anything made in this way.
Read more about the use of licensed fabrics here. Are there ‘restrictions' printed in the selvege edge of your fabric? These restrictions aren't legally binding on the fabric purchaser – read more about that here.
5 – What about those designers who insist you ‘credit' them by adding a notice to your sales pages and a tag to the item saying it was made with their pattern?
Depends where you live. American copyright law does not require the original author be given credit as you describe. European copyright law does require attribution but Congress declined to add that to American copyright law. Their demands for credit are not legally enforceable.
6 – You must purchase a pattern for EVERY item you make.
Not true. Patterns are reusable and there is nothing in the law that allows any pattern designer/manufacturer to set such a limit on the number of items that can be produced from the pattern, even if they are items of clothing intended for different people. Imagine if you had two daughters and wanted to make them matching dresses – why would you need to buy two patterns? The same applies even if you are sewing items to sell.
Coming up next
I'll be following up with my opinion in the next article about why I think pattern designers and companies try to put these restrictions on their products. I'll also be happy to tell you more about what is and isn't allowed with So Sew Easy patterns too – basically that's just common sense. You know what's right and wrong!
okay here is a breakdown from my end. I create a design. I make it available for sale. You purchase the design in your format. You can sew it on whatever you choose and sell, give away , whatever. IF you go commercial and use it a lot, it would be a nice gesture to say “the creator of the embroidery design used IS……” but not mandatory. That should be the end of it. BUT if you take the said design,in any format, put it with a lot of other designs and sell it as a collection, then you are breaking the law. If you give it away and keep a copy, you are breaking the law. IF as a digitzer, use a drawing from a coloring book, ESPECIALLY from a trademarked character, and try to sell that or even for personal use should they find out, you are breaking the law. These are simple things I was told by those in the know when I first started into this in 2005. The only one licensed in the US or anywhere, to do Disney graphics in a digitized form, is Brothers. But you cannot use the designs on things you sell. Disney will get you. Seems stupid to me, but they have TRADEMARKED the characters and that gives the legal right to do this. If only copyrighted, they couldn’t touch you. Trademarks make the difference. Any Trademarked cartoon characters are not something I would mess with. There are enough NON trademarked characters and designs that can be used. Plenty of looks like but not quite. If you do a quilt for your child and happen to have some of the lic. designs from whatever source, I doubt the gestapo will show up at your door unless you put it up for sale on eBay or something like that. You can bet if you buy a Disney design to embroider and it is NOT in PES format, then it is bootleg. Brother uses that as their format for their machines. It is let the buyer be educated and the creator to know their rights and what they can legally enforce. I am glad this discussion is open. Copyrights are something that many don’t want to take on because of the differences in opinions. I have my designs copyrighted legally but cannot afford the Trademark that I would like to have on the one character that IS my business name. It is my creation so I would be upset to see other’s using it. But I am not going to lose sleep over any of it. Life is too short for ulcers. I like to enjoy deep sleep and smiles.
For the Aussies ( and perhaps the Kiwi’s as our laws are so very similar), it’s very different downunder. Any restrictions of use that are included with the pattern are enforceable under copyright law.
So, if the designer says that you may use their pattern to make an item for personal or domestic use only, then that is a legal restriction. If no such restrictions are printed on or with the pattern, then you can do what you like with the items you made from the pattern.
Sadly for us, the commercial patterns all state that they are for personal or domestic use only. Most of the Aussie Indi ones I’ve seen give permission provided you give them credit for the design
Our copyright law also covers ‘reverse engineering’ where you pull apart an item, make a pattern and then construct from that. It’s a breach of copyright
I often read/hear about the 10%, 20% or 30% rule – if you alter a pattern or item by that amount and then reproduce it, you are not technically ‘copying’. That is a bit more complex but still a breach of Australian copyright. In other words, a Furphy
We treat patterns for sewing, knitting & crochet the same
I see all this as a good thing – it is protecting our artists and designers. They should always get at the very least credit for their work.
Here’s a link where Aussies can download the summary from the Australian government – it’s only a few pages and written in plain language so well worth a read before you head to the markets to sell those lovely things you made
http://www.copyright.org.au/acc_prod/Search?SearchTerms=sewing
That is excellent info, thank you so much.
Thanks @krankywitch for the link. I’m new to sewing and selling and am trying to create a small business in Townsville through word of mouth and eventually market stalls.
I have bought a beautiful dress pattern from Made by Rae and would love to make items to sell from it. The seller has requested that it be for personal use only (as printed on every sheet of the pattern) but does offer a $10/year licence to sell. Do you think that I would need to buy the licence to sell in Australia using a US pattern?
Your thoughts are appreciated as I have struggled with answering this question for months now.
Renee
VERY helpful post, Deby! Thanks for taking the time to wade through all the legalese out there and clear things up for us. I haven’t made things to sell yet, but do think it’s a viable option in my future 🙂
You are so wonderful, Deby!! A gift to us all!! Thank you!!
Deby!, Deby!
You are my favorite designer!! I want to be adopted by you.
All your blogs are so helpful.
I once a got a cease letter in the mail on designs from Great Notions. I also was questioned at Disneyland on a design I had on a shirt. Disney has a finders fee, so more people try and turn you in. I still use my purchased designs on items to sell at local events. Disney is the only one that scares me. So I never sell anything with Disney. I have a huge investment in their products. Not worth the risk.
Yes people tell me they are especially aggressive to protect their images. I can understand it of course, but if they are so protective, then why even produce Disney fabric in the first place if they don’t want people to use it. It’s all about money, money, money.
Some designers have gotten a bit anal on all this. It is a MINE mind set. I do not care what you put my designs on. I can’t control it. I don’t want to. That limits the buyer and me the seller. I had one lady write to me that she would buy my designs just so she could use an IMAGE of the sew out for her website. I told her not to bother that the image was free for her to use because she asked but please give me a link as the designer. She did. Our websites have almost identical names but she sells diaper cakes and I sell embroidery designs. I have talked to some designers that have the ME mentality. I would be upset if someone took my original clipart and used it for their profit without buying the right to it. That I don’t sell as I use it for myself. And I have had some of my designs that I gave away in a promotion shared on a network. THAT is not right. Free designs from a digitizer are under the same limitations. You don’t share. The designer is trying to get more sales so some are given away to show their quality. Everyone can come and be part of the give away on their own. You deprive the originator of income if you give their work away to others who have not purchased the right to use it. When someone buys or is using a free design, they purchased the RIGHT to use it for themselves. I clearly state on mine they can make and sell whatever they make. I cannot control that. But by saying that, I have let the public know I am not the copyright police and I will not come breathing down their necks. There is an organization that goes after the ones who purchase illegal designs. they send them dunning letters for money and demand the design disks be sent to them and they sign a statement saying they will not buy any designs like this again. THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO DO THIS!!!!!. They should have gone after the sellers but don’t because many of the sellers are in foreign countries that do not respect copyright laws of ANY nation. But they found easy marks in the US and scared many people into paying. They have never taken to court even one who didn’t pay them the money they demanded. BECAUSE THEY CAN’T. They rely on misinformation and fear to milk the public under a supposed legal sounding name. the bottom line is that YOU the user have the right to use the design on anything you make for whatever purpose so long as the purpose itself is legal. If it is a TRADEMARKED design then it is a whole nother ballgame. Most are NOT trademarked. Copyright protects me the originator from having my raw or whatever format files from being bootlegged by others. But even that does not protect much as those out of our country could care less. China does it all the time as do the Arab countries.
Thanks, Deby, for this article. I spent some time looking into this issue myself and came to the same conclusions. As soon as I see a designer state things like “this is for personal use only” I run the other way. Even though I’ve never sold what I sew, I buy from designers that allow sewers to sell what they make. I just prefer to support those that exhibit that kind of kindness. As my daughter has stated so often, we’re all in this together, so let’s work together. Designers are paid through the purchase of a pattern; sewers are paid after buying the pattern, purchasing the fabric, and sewing the item.
And interestingly, I believe designers that encourage the selling of items made from their patterns are just as successful, if not more so, as those that try to limit sewist/seamstresses.
Here is a quote from one of my favorite pattern designers, Brownie Goose, on Etsy,
“The Lottie is a BG Original and the pattern and all images are the property of brownie-goose and are copyrighted. This pattern may not be used without my permission.You may not resell this pattern itself, but PLEASE sell the items you create from it! Design away my dearys. 🙂
Isn’t she just the sweetest!!! I look forward to one day selling what I sew, and I look forward to give credit to the designer out of my appreciation for their work and as a way of giving back by providing the designer with additional advertising.
Thanks again for a great article. Jillee
That is just the right attitude to have. We all want each other to be successful and can’t make ourselves more successful by trying to limit the success of others.
Thank you so much for the information. I have tried to follow their requests, but some people do not sew and would like the product when they see it made. There are a lot of patterns out there to choose from.
I agree there is so much mis-information about copy right laws. First of all anything you write has an implied copyright, so you do not even need to have the copyright logo or even state it is copyrighted. However, trying to enforce anything with a copyright is pretty dang hard to do. I think some people want to bully you if they think you infringed on their copyright, such as in your first comment. But suing takes a lot of time and money and most people will only threaten you. Unless it’s a huge corporation, no way will anyone sue you as I doubt they would win and if they do win, half the money goes to the lawyer anyhow.
I also truly believe that creative people have very similar creative ideas. I have seen time and again the near exact pattern being sold with a few differences, but it’s because we have either seen something before and tucked the idea away in our minds and then created it later, or because as creative people we all think very much the same. So to sue someone over something that might look like your pattern, etc. well that’s nonsense!
I have read several times of bloggers being threatened by someone when they offered a free tutorial on their blog only to have that someone claim they are teaching their pattern for free and demanding they remove it from their blog. Most bloggers comply to avoid any hassle, but they also had never even seen the so-called pattern or heard of the person who was asking them to remove the tutorial from their blog before.
Thank you Deby for bringing this topic up as it is confusing and yes indeed there is a lot of mis-information out there. It’s all in how the copyright law is interpreted.
Thanks Deby, this was so helpful. I’d love to hear some feedback from the designers who *do* put limitations on their patterns about why they do it. Are they misinformed, is it an attempt to make $, are they selling the items themselves and don’t want competition? I’d really be interested to hear more from them.
I have a follow up article planned on this for tomorrow. It’s only my own opinion of course but I’ll be interested to know how everyone feels.
Hi Heather, I’ll give you my reason – I am in the process of starting a business designing my own quilt patterns. I am also thinking about selling my handmade quilts. I actually printed the typical copyright lingo on my pattern because of a workshop I attended at a Sew Expo. The presenter talked all about how you should be protecting yourself by adding the copyright information and a statement of “not for commercial use”. In the meantime, I was also emailing other designers asking for permission to make their designs. Again, because I was given this information in a seminar and just assumed that this woman was credible (because she was speaking in a seminar)…
So I am now reading this fabulous article about these copyright myths and realizing that I need to educate myself further. So to answer your question…I think there is just too much misinformation floating around out there and because there is just so much, many people choose to grab onto a couple of articles that agree with each other and just go with the information as gospel.
This blog has given me a new perspective and options.
Thanks so much for the information but, I would have thought in selling products made from a pattern as selling your sewing skill an as long as the pattern writer is given credit. My time and skill are mine and as such should be mine to sell.
My daughter made Key Fobs using ribbon she bought on Ebay. It had “Fight Like A Girl” on the ribbon. She was selling on Etsy. She trying to raise money to do the 2 day Breast Cancer Walk. She received an email from a company that said they had that term TM and she had to take down and not sell her Key Fob with Fight Like A Girl. She replied what she was doing, they did not want to hear it, They were going to sue her if she did not stop. She took them off her Etsy shop. She didn’t have $ to fight it.
That is horrible! Who on earth would do such a thing? I’m surprised that such a common term like than can be a trademark, but I admit I don’t know about those items.
I remember a long time ago, being told that you cannot copyright word phrases. I think we need to search that one out. If it were so then every time you even utter a phrase they could come at you for Royalties..
http://www.wisegeek.org/can-i-copyright-a-phrase.htm
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ34.pdf
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2002/02/can_you_trademark_the_phrase_lets_roll.html *this one applies to trademarks. Different story from Copyrights*
Thanks so much for the information shared here. I agree cite your source. Be considerate of the artist who worked hard on the design you have used.
Thank you for a great and informative article!
Awesome! Well done. I am so relived after reading this — and I am even a former lawyer. I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention in my own Copyright class (my future husband was in it!) and I have always struggled with whether I can make someone something and charge for it when the original design was not my own!!!
Thanks for this article! I love reading something so well researched. Quoting from the UK article linked above: There is no single international copyright law; each country has its own laws on copyright. However, most countries have agreed to abide by one or more international treaties that guarantee minimum standards of copyright protection and provide for reciprocal protection.
This was a very interesting and informative article that made clear some of the fear mongering and greed that some pattern designers try to put over on people who buy their patterns.
Thank you!
This article is well worth sharing. I’ve gone through courses on copyright related to book and essay publishing in Canada, which would cover all written works including sewing patterns. The US legal precedents may be different but these guidelines are just as applicable to copyright law here. Thanks, Deby.
(Critical thinking and critical reading are rare skills in the internet age, it seems.)
I understand that this is a sewing blog, but does anyone think that this also applies to knitting and crocheting patterns? I struggle to find patterns that state specifically that we (as business owners) can market and sell items made from that pattern. I’m an amazing knitter, I just can’t write a pattern to save my life!
That’s what also makes sense! Thank you for clarifying this in understandable terms!
First off in her 2nd paragraph she states this info came from a copyright attorney , 2nd ” As not necessary true means it depends on what country you live in, READ. I got the same response from my copyright attorney as the above BUT there again his advice is for people living in the USA.
Thank you for condensing all of this here in clear language. I’ve researched this quite a bit myself and am constantly debunking others misunderstanding of whats legal. I will add this to my places to send people for a clear understanding.
A couple questions. Was your lawyer you asked a copyright/trademark lawyer? Did he have case law or was it an opinion? On point 4 you say “not necessarily true”..which also means “not necessarily false”? There is a difference between using licensed fabric and fabric with Trademarked images for a commercial item. You quote Tabberone as a “source” who is NOT a lawyer just someone with a blog on the internet? I do not know for sure about patterns, but using other’s TM’s even with a disclaimer is not to be taken lightly. Ask a lawyer people. Do not take things you read online as law. If a TM lawyer tells you what you plan to do is legal (and will defend you in court ..on your dime of course) then go for it.
Oh thank goodness, finally somewhere I can direct people to without having to get into the argument of opinions or ‘I read it once, somewhere, sometime’ myself!
I’m so fed up of pattern designers scaremongering. Why on earth wouldn’t you want to encourage people to sell what they sew if they they want to? They have countless patterns to choose from, what makes yours so special that they have to buy a cottage licence? It makes me so mad…
Anyway, that’s why I openly encourage people to sell what they sew, as I know you do yourself!
This is my first time here – I thought the bloglovin teaser looked interesting and that was the case. Nice to see someone take a common sense approach to this and so kind of you to go to the trouble of getting legal input! I don’t make things to sell – wish I had the time for that , I barely scrape enough time together to make my own stuff! – but have often noticed statements on certain designers’ sites which made me grimace. Let’s face it, a jersey dress has only so many incarnations, so if I had to be a dressmaker wanting to make one for a client, I could use my Moneta pattern, or my Lady Skater pattern, etc, and it would look like most of the jersey dresses you can buy on line from Asos and the like. Besides being dog in the manger-ish, it’s kind of ridiculous to even try to put gates up like that.
Great blog – I have subscribed to your newsletter – I’ve just noticed a non-slip pad for sewing machine foot pedal flash at me – wow! What a genius idea – thanks:))
Thanks so much for taking the time to write this blog post. Very informative.
i have seen so called patterns that belong to a certain party and then seen the same thing in a quilt book that came out 50 years ago
Thank you! Those restrictions have always bugged me BECAUSE they’re full of air. This is why I refuse to buy from designers (Made By Rae, CailaMade, etc.) who insist on licenses to sell what you make from their patterns. No. I buy the pattern. I make what I want. I do what I want with what I make. THE END. Thanks for addressing this!
Agreed! You have put your own creativity into what you’ve made!
Great and helpful article.
You asked a question from Kim above regarding embroidered designs and I would like to know if this applies. Some designs grant permission to sell items using their designs and others forbid it. Thank you.
Those who forbid it have no right to do so I believe. The law only covers the original item itself, so you cannot resell the embroidery design obviously because that lawfully belong to the designer. But you can sell anything that you make and put that embroidery design on. If in doubt, buy a design from someone who is more open and not from the people who seek to forbid you to use their designs in the way you want.
Thank you for a great article. It gave me pause for thought and knowledge to encourage discussion among my friends. I have a question to pose. If I want to teach a class using a pattern, and enforce the purchase of this pattern by all students prior to the class, is this enough to cover me legally? I have reached out to pattern makers before and received the ok, but some fail to respond. Am I within the law?
Yes all students should have their own copy of the pattern so provided you don’t just buy one copy and then sell/copy/send it to all of the students in the class you’ve done nothing wrong. If everyone turns up with their own copy of the pattern, you can’t logically be held responsible for where they might have got them from if you weren’t involved in any wrong-doing.
Thank you! Could you also please address what happened with Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum’s case with Wal-Mart? One version I had heard said they had to pay her for a pattern for every image they had used. That is the sort of thing that confuses the issue in #6. Thanks again!
This was rather different in that someone took a graphic from her website of a design of an angel and used it in one of their promotional displays without her permission. So this was a copyright registered unique graphic, like a photo, rather than an embroidery design. Different laws apply to that sort of thing – its an image, not a set of directions like a pattern would be.
Sounds like image copyright and pattern copyright got confused as this tale was told. Thanks for the clarification.
One thing I would like to add, has anyone ever heard of a small home based business being sued for using a pattern and selling their product? Copyright infringement is very hard to prove and you must have enough money to enforce it. Disney would be one that could afford it, but are they looking at small home based businesses? I think not. Good article. If you read beading magazines or art magazines they will say in the front in very small print you cannot sell what you make with their pattern, I think this would be very difficult and costly to enforce.
Jan, I can’t give you exact names/details but I have seen sellers of handcrafted items on eBay stating that they have withdrawn a very popular product because it had a Disney ribbon or fabric in it and they have received a letter from Disney lawyers. The items were still available to buy, but only in non-Disney fabrics.
So, I would say that there is no level too low for Disney to stoop to
Thank you Deby. Finally, someone puts it out there in black and white or as close to it as you can get! I have long wondered where people came up with some of this nonsense you see in some patterns.
Thank you for getting to the truth for us!
Interesting. Useful. Now. How about explaining why I can’t sell an article of clothing with a legally purchased licensed design that I own.
Can you explain more about that Kim. You have added some kind of embroidered design to an item of clothing and have been told you can’t sell it? Is that what you mean? Who told you that you can’t sell it?
Why would you not be able to sell it? I do digitizing and never limit what people do with it after they purchase…just not resell the digitized design itself in whatever format they purchase. I do ask them to give me credit if they sell a lot of items..it is good advertising. But no way would that cause anyone a problem. It is a courtesy.
Thank you for this, Deby~answers a lot of questions regarding selling of sewing projects!
Keep in mind that copyright laws can vary from region to region, so something that’s legal to do in Canada could be restricted in the US or the EU or vice versa. This article touches on that a little, but it should be, in my opinion, a disclaimer at the top of the article.
Copyright isn’t meant to be used as a means of controlling distribution; it’s meant to be used as a means for intellectual property creators to make an income. What I don’t think this article stated clearly enough is that PATTERNS are the intellectual property (they’re basically a set of instructions), not *necessarily* the products made using those patterns; the copying of the patterns themselves would be covered under reproduction laws (you can copy a certain amount of the pattern for educational purposes without having to purchase patterns for each student, etc). Unless the pattern itself involves the design of a copyrighted or trademarked image or phrase, etc., the product made from that product is not considered the original intellectual property.
There’s another very good article about this put out in the UK here: https://www.gov.uk/…/399646/Copyright_Notice_4-2015.pdf
I’m not 100% confident in your advice that you can completely ignore the licensing requirements set out in a pattern by the designer. I’m not saying it’s wrong, I’m saying I’m a little leery of it.
Sorry. That link is borked. Here it is again: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/399646/Copyright_Notice_4-2015.pdf
Thanks, Deby. Excellently done.
Excellent and clear article! We have a whole new crop of sewers and craftspeople who aren’t aware of how copyright works.
Asking people to cite sources,what a novel approach! When my son was younger, and would spout out stuff, as teenagers do, we would ask him” How do you know that?Is that fact or opinion? Cite your source!” He would get all grumpy but it worked.
regards,
Theresa
I’ve learned that from listening to all the nonsense that comes out of my husbands mouth sometimes! Where did you learn that rubbish? I read it somewhere on the internet – ah there we have it then. He sometimes believes everything he reads, which I love about him because he is so trusting, but not everything people say is true 🙂
Wow! Thank you! This is the clearest explanation of sewing pattern/licensed fabric usage laws that I have ever seen. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
This is awesome!! I was misunderstanding and believing the myths. Great blog post!
Great collection of questions and answers Deby. Thanks! I’ve always wondered about the restriction on selling product made from a pattern, and this restriction has always put me off the pattern writer.