Comments on: Fabric, Copyright, and Licenses, Oh My!

By: True Up » More on Fabric and The Man

True Up » More on Fabric and The Man — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:11:49 +0000

[...] previous posts here and on Whipup about fabric legalities garnered lots of interesting comments. People are all over the map with [...]

By: E.V. Lowi

E.V. Lowi — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 06:53:29 +0000

It is my understanding from researching the subject in the NOLO Press ‘Law for All’ books that garments are not covered by copyright but soft sculpture is.

By: Midwest Too

Midwest Too — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 07:17:26 +0000

I’ve been ticked off at Ms. Butler for well over a year after investing in her fabric (I own at least a yard in every pattern made before 2006. I’ve been refusing to buy from her since then). I’m happy to hear she has backed down, but a thought that came to my mind at that time and now with others like Heather Ross is that they need to decide whether they are going to be fabric designer/sellers or pajama/purse/homegood designer/sellers. Amy’s previous restrictions were placed because she wanted to be able to sell her own finished products with her fabric. It was like she saw how succesful her fabric was for smalltime crafters and artists and suddenly she wanted it all for herself. She has that right, but she should have removed the fabric from sale to crafters. The “i’ll take your money, but all you can do is make pillows and aprons for yourself and friends” mindset is BS.

By: bernadette

bernadette — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 16:23:04 +0000

I have worked as a buyer at a large, independent fabric store. Some print cottons, mostly meant for quilters use, came with “not for commercial use” printed on the selvedge. This included fabrics with disney designs, hello kitty, etc. Customers who wanted to make items to sell (often at fund-raiser craft fairs, so mostly for charity) were told that it was not a good idea to use these prints. Disney was known to be especially vigilant.

I think if it is actually printed on the fabric, you should respect the copyright wishes of the designer, who often has her/his own line of finished articles for sale. There are certainly plenty of ‘unsigned’ fabrics out there to use.

By: jessica

jessica — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 19:04:45 +0000

This sounds similar to what Swarovski has done in the past year or so. They have put limitations on using the name Swarovkski. In short hand … it comes down to … you can say *jewelry made with Swarovski components*, but you can’t say *Swarovski jewelry* … this protects their lines of jewelry, but allows for the use of their components in resale work. At least, that is how I’ve understood it for the little folks like us. :)

By: Kim

Kim — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 14:27:58 +0000

I recently bought some Nancy Wolff fabric on eBAY and had no idea it would have a no resale/personal use only statement on it. I feel that if I design something that is OOAK and use any fabric I have purchased (and not hand drawn & colored myself ) then I am still changing that original fabric into something else. It’s very tricky, and every artist/crafter seems to have their own interpretation of the law. Someone once asked me to paint an image of Barbie on a jean jacket for them and I didn’t do it because if she would have paid me then I felt I would be breaking the law. I like Heather Ross fabrics but I have had to buy them online because the 8 local quilt shops in my area don’t carry them. Is she afraid the average seamstress is going to become rich from using her fabric to make their own jammies to sell? What if I buy Nick n’ Nora jammies at a thrift shop and cut them up to make a doll? Is that re-cycling or infringement? Cheese & Rice! Who would know anyway? The copyright police I suppose.

By: Hanna

Hanna — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 22:00:23 +0000

Very interesting, thanks. I’m wondering if you can copyright patterns for clothes or softies, would be interesting to read about this subject too! Like when you buy a pattern for something to sew it can say that you can not sell the items that you make… That might be a agreement between two parties too, but not if you bought the pattern online and it didn’t say “no selling your items” there? Or?

By: sulicat

sulicat — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 04:05:14 +0000

The fact that textile designers actually get recognition for their designs now is great. I find it an interesting contrast to the centuries of anonymous designers who recycled one another’s work over and over almost seemingly as a matter of course. Browsing through great textile design books like Textile designs: two hundred years of European and American patterns/ by Susan Meller and Joost Elffers can be quite eye-opening. Design can be timeless, just like bickering over money and property rights.

By: joybucket

joybucket — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 03:40:39 +0000

After writing my first comment I found this link:
http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/?p=361#more-361

on the plagiarism today site. It’s very interesting and a good resource.

By: joybucket

joybucket — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 03:37:04 +0000

On the subject on copyright, there is a good post here about it in regard to blogs.

http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/?p=338

After consulting with an attorney about copyright, I was strongly encouraged to register my copyright with the US copyright office:
http://www.copyright.gov/

There is plenty of information which explains differences in copyright there.