Thread: Is it illegal to sell a quilt -

I'm glad to see someone posted this! This is one of those arguments that keeps going and going and going!! It is legal! Plain and simple!! I see University of Kentucky stuff for sale at craft shows all the time. Trust me, if it wasn't legal, they would stop it. The universities are very controlling!! Even the all-powerful Disney has lost a case on this!

Originally Posted by Cari-in-Oly

I make purses and other items to sell with copyrighted sports fabric. I've gotten into more than one discussion and even arguments over whether what I do is legal. Yes, it is legal. This went all the way to the Supreme Court and here is a portion of the ruling:
the "first sale doctrine" upheld in the court ruling of Quality King Distributors, Inc. v. L'Anzaresearch Int'l, Inc (98 F.3d 1109, reversed). Justice Stevens: "The whole point of the first sale doctrine is that once the copyright owner places a copyrighted item in the stream of commerce by selling it, he has exhausted his exclusive statutory right to control its distribution."

In other words, once you buy the fabric, it is yours to do what you wish with it.

Cari

Originally Posted by Cari-in-Oly

I make purses and other items to sell with copyrighted sports fabric. I've gotten into more than one discussion and even arguments over whether what I do is legal. Yes, it is legal. This went all the way to the Supreme Court and here is a portion of the ruling:
the "first sale doctrine" upheld in the court ruling of Quality King Distributors, Inc. v. L'Anzaresearch Int'l, Inc (98 F.3d 1109, reversed). Justice Stevens: "The whole point of the first sale doctrine is that once the copyright owner places a copyrighted item in the stream of commerce by selling it, he has exhausted his exclusive statutory right to control its distribution."

In other words, once you buy the fabric, it is yours to do what you wish with it.

Cari

To me, this sounds like it would include quilt patterns too. I always wondered how you could sell a pattern and then say, only one could be made from the pattern, and no sales allowed, must be for personal use. Now, adding a statement like "no mass production" I can understand. I am considering mass as being several hundred, not 2 or 3.

Originally Posted by Cari-in-Oly

I make purses and other items to sell with copyrighted sports fabric. I've gotten into more than one discussion and even arguments over whether what I do is legal. Yes, it is legal. This went all the way to the Supreme Court and here is a portion of the ruling:
the "first sale doctrine" upheld in the court ruling of Quality King Distributors, Inc. v. L'Anzaresearch Int'l, Inc (98 F.3d 1109, reversed). Justice Stevens: "The whole point of the first sale doctrine is that once the copyright owner places a copyrighted item in the stream of commerce by selling it, he has exhausted his exclusive statutory right to control its distribution."

In other words, once you buy the fabric, it is yours to do what you wish with it.

Cari

Ha! Mahalo for posting this!!!

It ends all the arguments about what you can do or not do with fabric you've bought.

Do you know what year this ruling came down?

Again: MAHALO! (Thank you).

Originally Posted by HouseDragon

Ha! Mahalo for posting this!!!

It ends all the arguments about what you can do or not do with fabric you've bought.

Do you know what year this ruling came down?

Again: MAHALO! (Thank you).

From a quick Google search it says 1998.

Originally Posted by Cari-in-Oly

I make purses and other items to sell with copyrighted sports fabric. I've gotten into more than one discussion and even arguments over whether what I do is legal. Yes, it is legal. This went all the way to the Supreme Court and here is a portion of the ruling:
the "first sale doctrine" upheld in the court ruling of Quality King Distributors, Inc. v. L'Anzaresearch Int'l, Inc (98 F.3d 1109, reversed). Justice Stevens: "The whole point of the first sale doctrine is that once the copyright owner places a copyrighted item in the stream of commerce by selling it, he has exhausted his exclusive statutory right to control its distribution."

In other words, once you buy the fabric, it is yours to do what you wish with it.

Cari

I swore I would never get into one of these debates again, but I have to jump into this one just to say that the case you have cited above has absolutely nothing to do with this issue. It was about whether or not a product sold under copyright in another country can be imported to the US and then resold. The part you have quoted is dicta, not the holding of the case, and is the final line of a paragraph discussing importation as it relates to a defense under the first sale doctrine. I would hate to see someone attach that case to some kind of disclaimer on a finished product and think it somehow protected her.

The first sale doctrine applies to the actual copyrighted item in its original condition. So, if you were to resthat's book, for example, that would be a first sale doctrine issue. However, when you then make a product out of fabric with logos that are trademarked and do not have the permission of the trademark holder, that is where problems arise. And this is a trademark issue, not a copyright issue. You cannot sell something with the trademarked logo of a team without a licensing agreement.

Here is my disclaimer: I do not currently actively practice trademark or copyright law. I did consider pursuing intellectual property law in law school but my practice took a different turn.

I am now quietly leaving the debate.

??? is why make fabric if the buyers can't use it as they want, doesn't make sense to me.