here is a link to the website of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office:
http://www.cipo.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/ci...c.nsf/eng/Home

if anybody has useful links to similar entities from other countries' governments, please feel free to share.

My brain aches the more I read of the copyright thing. AARRGGHH!! I also admit I become more, not less, confused, too, as I read along and try to understand the law. Will keep on reading and hope that someone can answer whether a quilt made from a pattern is saleable - not that mine are good enough to sell but maybe someday...in a thousand years. :D

I have not yet seen a new quilt that was sufficiently original.

It is only an issue because people who want more than their copyright allows keep insisting they have a right to more. There is nothing confusing about this but as long as people can be convinced to be fearful they will handover the rights, both financial and creatively to the pattern maker. A mafia-style technique. There is nothing confusing about this if do not listen to money-grabbers who are trying to make a buck off their copyright when the design they are insisting is their 'right' is a spinoff off something that has been around for hundred of years. Really that simple.

Just read the law and the law only and separate art quilts that are like a canvas painting from all others. There is NO confusion. The law is very specific that end product is NOT copyright and one CAN do whatever with the quilt, including sell for big, big, big profits. Reading through Canadian copyright law, the actual law, it is closer to US law in this area.

No confusion. The actual laws are a fairly quick read and very explicit. Don't listen to the noise from those with a vested interest in others believing they have to share their glory and profit with the pattern designer. Note: Pattern Designer NOT Quilt Designer, which is the person making the end quilt using the pattern design.

Read the actual law. It is not an issue if the quilter sells the quilt. Quick read. Go for it and relax.....and go make some money off your quilts if you want!

i think it's fair to say that the issues are clouded by both confused users and confused designers/publishers.

those few in the designer/publisher camp who appear to be grasping or act like big bullies believe they are correct in light of their interpretation of the law (or the bazillions of amateur opinions "out there.")

even a lawyer who makes her living in "copyright court" argues based on her interpretation/opinion of the law as she believes it supports her client's position.

i have made some personal decisions based on my interpretation of everything i have read so far.
i will keep looking for reliable sources of information.
i will consider - but not rely upon - the opinions of others unless they are judges who hear and rule on cases that involve copyright law.

it also helps to put myself in the other person's shoes. what would i consider fair if it was my pattern?
that's the best any of us can do.

No, you made the quilt and put it on exhibition. You did not put it up for sale or exploit the rights of the designer. It is when you make the quilt and claim that it is your design, that is when you infringe on the rights of the creator.

Which as I stated before, do the right thing. Respect the work of others, don't pass it off as yours, don't try to sell it as your design and take monies for it. Respect the creativity of the designer, use it to create your quilt; just don't tell or try to sell it as if it were your idea.

I believe we respect the work of the pattern designer by laying down our money for the book/pattern. It seems to me the quilt we make using the pattern is our work, not theirs.

I can't imagine there are many quilters going around misrepresenting their quilts as original pattern designs, or many non-quilter recipients of quilts even aware of pattern as a separate design element.

Has anyone here given a quilt to a non-quilter and been asked if you designed the pattern yourself? Do you always make a point of informing a non-quilter recipient that the pattern was not an original idea?

Thanks Patrice like I said I will not buy a pattern and make copies to sell but after I purchase it I do consider it mine I did not really decide this way until aftder all the spin offs I have seen not only twister from square dance and one block wonder from stack and whack and there are many others I just saw one the other day and the late Doreen Speckman came to mind and it was a spin off and I had taken classes from Doreen and had lots of respect for her then when I see these spin offs I wonder who do these people think they are kidding now off of my soap box back to the wonderful world of quilting and yes still get together with friends for a day of quilting and exchanging whatever we need it is all about fellowship and a great day

Oh blah blah blah.....99% of the blocks are old old old. The ladies who "designed" them are long dead. Who gives them credit? All we do is rename them and call it designing. Get real

For the pattern designers that put restrictions on their patterns that you cannot make the ite for sale and cannot give the article away but it's only for personal use, etc. etc. If I buy a pattern I will do what I want with it, period! So if I see all those restrictions I will NOT buy the pattern. Especially since patterns have gotten so expensive. I will use a free pattern off the internet before I will reward someone who thinks they can control what I do with their pattern after I spent money to buy it. If no one buys their patterns, they will be out of business. I would never copy or sell someone elses work (pattern) however.

ok, now.
we are degenerating into angry opinion posts.
this is not constructive or helpful to those who want facts and clarity.
no more of that, please.

Sharen Shamber
 

While reading all this, the only person that comes to my mind for being "actually original" is Sharen Shamber. I'd like to see anyone say her designs have been around for hundreds of years. Yet, she doesn't sell those patterns so no one has to worry about copying them.

Good advice: Don't make copies and give out to your friends or your guild. Each person should be willing to purchase his/her own personal copy of the pattern.

Like some of the people here, I too am a bit confused. My question is has anyone been successfully sued for infringing on some designers copyrighted quilt? I guess there are those who would (on purpose) copy somebody else verbatim, but I have to think that getting into an actual legal battle is expensive and the outcome is not always worth it in terms of time, money and emotional trauma. Happy quilting everyone.

You've got it! Thanks for being there for us. I don't always agree with you, but without your guidance we'd be floundering on many points.

You may just find the answer here, http://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/...Patterns.shtml

Thanks, I would like to quote a couple things they say but will leave it be for everone to go read themselves.

Amen to that!

Thank you for posting that link!

I like this site a lot. It really explains it well. I will end up buried underneath a pile of quilts if I don't sell any of them. LOL

Thank you for this link I think we can all rest assured that we can make articles from a pattern and sell at a craft show my husband makes birdhouses and I am into quilts and other small articles now lets all get to work and have some fun

Thank you SandraP for asking the court case question as it set me in motion searching and I stumbled upon the above mentioned link.

Lol, too cute Patrice. :D

It is a good topic and this was on Yahoo today: https://www.yahoo.com/makers/craft-c...517104510.html, discussing this issue.

I've been told, by a published quilt designer, that once the pattern is published and SOLD, there is nothing owed to the designer anymore, UNLESS the purchaser of the the pattern tries to re-sell the pattern, or distributes it to others who have not paid for it.

A fact based, no vested interest reference that I don't believe has been posted before.
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/

And this is the (humongous) resource listing for a course that teaches copyright law. The course covers copyright as it applies to digital items, but some of the resources listed are applicable to us here as well.
http://www.teachingcopyright.org/resources

Public domain is now being discussed in a separate thread.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...s-t261518.html

Brenda Papadakis has trademarked the "Dear Jane" name. She is capitalizing on the 'Dear Jane' name only, plus any written text or derivative patterns she came up with (which would be copyright protected). That is her right.

It has nothing to do with the Stickle quilt, which is in the public domain. You may copy the Stickle quilt and any of the blocks in it without restriction, you just can't refer to it as a 'Dear Jane' quilt. Baby Jane is not trademarked, btw, nor is Jane.

In fact, if you do a web search, virtually every mention of 'Dear Jane' is followed by this in parenthesis: "Dear Jane® is the registered trademark of Brenda Papadakis and is used with permission". I'm probably up for trademark infringement as we speak. :o

I don't understand this trademarking of phrases, especially in the case of securing the trademark of a phrase that describes something one didn't create. Now to me, this seems like a good example of what has been mentioned as not 'respecting the artist'. It doesn't seem to respect Ms. Stickle, to claim rights over the phrase that describes her quilt (unless it was not Stickle, but Ms. Papadakis herself who first referred to the Stickle quilt as 'Dear Jane').

That's exactly the case. The Stickle quilt dates to 1863.

Love Brave Little Chicken series. The few (but could be major) discrepancies when compared to actual law written could be attributed to the fact that the author is a young Public Health Attorney. (which of course does not mean she is not studied on copyright, of course)

I had posted a link to a presentation/article by an actual copyright attorney somewhere in one of these controversial copyright threads but can't seem to find it now. It is not http://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/...Patterns.shtml Any help finding it? It was an easy read and posted sometime before the one above. Thanks!

While I do make some bed quilts based on traditional blocks, I would argue that most of my quilts are completely original and don't include blocks per se. Don't forget that in addition to there being many opinions on copyright law here, there are many different kinds of quiltmakers here.

Ah! The voice of good sense. froggyintexas

I have been doing some reading myself, and if I understand the copyright law, a quilt falls into exactly the same category as clothing patterns. You may notice that a pattern envelope has a "copyright" on the front; however, the clothing is termed in the copyright law as a "useful article", and so is a quilt. Copyright case law has ruled that a dress pattern, or the item made from the pattern, is a "useful article" and is not, therefore, subject to the copyright laws, because it cannot be copyrighted. I'm not going to be adamant about this because I want to read further. From what I've seen, the actual pattern you purchase is copyrightable, but the articles made using that pattern are not! As I said, I am readying an studying on this subject. If I had lots of time and were physically able to do so, I would make a day of researching the question at the Univ. of Florida law library. If a dress pattern cannot be copyrighted, then logic tells me that neither than a quilt pattern. Today's patterns are based on shapes and designs that have been in common useage for more than 200 years. Absolutely, I would not reproduce and distribute the pattern itself. Let's all take a deeper look at the issue and not hit any panic buttons yet!

Jeanette

Some additional references to check out.

This is the definition of "useful articles" according to the copyright office.
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl103.html

This copyright attorney discusses what types of work are not protected by copyright.
http://www.bitlaw.com/copyright/unprotected.html#useful

This is a Q&A discussion with the attorney/quilter author of the Brave Little Chicken copyright series.
https://whileshenaps.com/2014/03/can...g-pattern.html

This article on patterns and copyright is from the Ohio State University's Copyright Resources Center.
The article is about clothing patterns, but if quilts are also in the useful articles category, then this info would likely apply.
http://library.osu.edu/blogs/copyrig...t-protections/

One thing that has not been mentioned is the fact that the copyright laws of the country where the copyright was claimed are the ones that apply to that item in all 168 countries that have signed the Berne Convention. In other words, if you buy a Canadian pattern, make a quilt and sell it without the pattern writer's permission, then you are, in fact, guilty of copyright infringement because that is the law in Canada (also in the UK). There is no exemption for useful articles.

This piece is by a UK designer and it points out some differences that clearly rub her the wrong way. Nontheless, it's useful information.
https://dawnhocknell.wordpress.com/2...ng-patterns-2/

The more of this I read and more of the spin off patterns that I see I have decided to just quilt and enjoy it I would not make a copy of a pattern to sell even a free one but for friends to get together and share and sew I think that is what it is all about the one thing missing today is the old fashioned quilting bees where people got together and enjoyed fellowship whether it be caning or quilting so when I buy a pattern or a piece of fabric it is mine things use to be to enjoy now it seem only money money and the crooks seem to be winning if by no other way than to worry people but I m going to sew with my friends and enjoy it and forget it Relax and Happy Quilting everyone