QUESTION
does the copyright holder of a sewing pattern have the right to limit how I can sell items made?
Asked on Nov 12th, 2012 on Intellectual Property - Michigan
More details to this question:
I purchased two copyrighted patterns from a local quilt shop. I have made several oven mitts using my unique, hand marbled material and posted them for sale on the ETSY web site, Several days after posting these items, I received an email from a representative of copyright holder of the patterns stating that I didn't have the right to sell these items on the internet because I didn't not get their prior written approval. When I purchased the patterns, there was no mention of any types of restrictions. Based on a complaint from the copyright holder, ETSY has taken my products off their web site. After this I did check the copyright holder's web site which does state that they need to approve any sales on the public internet of products made from their patterns. They state that I'm limited to selling only 25 items made from the patterns.
2 ANSWERS
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1 Award
As a general matter, the owner of a copyright may preclude any copying of the copyrighted items, or may allow limited copying. There is an ongoing and unresolved feud in this field regarding whether clothing made from copyrighted patterns infringes the patterns -- since clothing is generally deemed to be a "useful article" and not a work of authorship. The copyright owner may certainly communicate the fact of its copyright to any web-site operator and request the operator to take down putatively infringing material; whether the operator does so is a business decision for the operator.
Answered on Nov 13th, 2012 at 9:48 AM
A sewing pattern copyright only prevents copying of the pattern and not making of the item that results from using the pattern in the same way that a copyright on a blueprint does not prevent building of the object depicted in the blueprint. To protect the mitts resulting from the pattern in question, the party that contacted you would have had to obtain a design patent or a utility patent, and if they did not, they have no right to take action against you.
Answered on Nov 13th, 2012 at 9:26 AM