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.