Thread: Copyrights for closed business

I would like to teach a class using a pattern that I purchased many, many years ago. In researching the company and pattern for class members to purchase, I cannot find them! I have exhausted all my resources to find them. My assumption is that the creators of the pattern have gone out of business and the pattern is out of print. It was copyrighted in 1995.

Does the copyright law still apply? Can I photocopy the pattern for my class?

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

Good Question!! I hope someone comes up with an answer.

Originally Posted by Kristi.G

This makes no sense - I believe you have things backwards or otherwise confused. First of all, Copyrights and Patents apply to completely different things. You can copyright a work of art, or written instructions and you apply for a patent for an invention or an idea for an invention. For instance, you can copyright a painting but you can't patent it. If you come up with a new airbrush tool for making paintings, you could apply for patent for the tool, but not copyright it (although your instruction for using the tool would be copyrighted).

Also, copyright is free - it is implied for all pieces that it applies to. You can strengthen your ability to uphold the copyright in court, should you ever need to do so, by registering your copyrighted works with the appropriate agency, but it's simply a matter of submitting a sample of the work along with a modest application fee. But as I said, it is technically copyrighted whether your submit the registration or not. Submitting the registration simply makes it easier to prove in the future that it was your original creation.

Patents on the other hand usually require the assistance of a patent attorney who specializes in the type of invention you are attempting to patent, at the cost of many thousands of dollars, along with the patent application fees, which I believe are well over $1000 themselves.

Here is the definition of a design patent - it applies to the design of something, and is good for 15 years. (source: the sometimes fallible Wikipedia). it seems that it can apply to a quilt pattern ("design") as well as other objects. Invention can mean creating a unique pattern...
A US design patent covers the ornamental design for an object having practical utility. An object with a design that is substantially similar to the design claimed in a design patent cannot be made, used, copied or imported into the United States. The copy does not have to be exact for the patent to be infringed. It only has to be substantially similar.^[2] Design patents with line drawings cover only the features shown as solid lines. Items shown as dotted lines are not covered. This is one of the reasons Apple was awarded a jury verdict in the US case of Apple v Samsung. Apple's patent showed much of their iPhone design as broken lines. It didn’t matter if Samsung was different in those areas. The fact that the solid lines of the patent were the same as Samsung's design meant that Samsung infringed the Apple design patent.^[1]

And if the copyright was held by a human being, it stays in effect for 70 years after the death of that individual or it can be renewed for a longer period by the heirs.

I found a copy of the pattern on ebay and have included a link to it.

The pattern is "Home for Christmas, Simple to Sew Tree Skirt Pattern" by Nancy J Smith and Lynda S Milligan, published by Possibilities in Denver, Colorado, copyright 1995.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/351326504630...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Thanks for the help everyone.