Thanks for the link. I have contacted them and am awaiting a reply. I'll let you all know what I find out.

Thanks Peckish

Absolutely correct, but copying is forbidden under any circumstances (except copying portions for your own use). You cannot copy and sell or copy and give away, whether or not you are claiming it is your own work product. However you can dispose of the original pattern in any way you wish. You may even sell it for more than you originally paid, which is often the case with out of date patterns.

There are 11 of these for sale on Amazon, although many are for ridiculous prices. You can also Google the ISBN as it may be available on used book websites too.

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.

I just looked at the pattern you want to use, and while the instructions are certainly copyright protected, the design of the tree skirt would not qualify as sufficiently original work to itself be copyright protected (IMHO). What that means is that you can write your own directions (being very careful not to copy any of the directions from the original pattern - in fact don't even refer to it while writing) and use those directions for your class. When I took my first quilting class, the instructor had done that, although I have to admit her writing was not that clear, and I would have preferred to have purchased the original pattern.

I went to a Christmas in July event at a quilt shop last year. The free hand out pattern was this tree skirt! Different name but looks exactly like this. I know many made copies for their guild to pass out. Seemed to be everywhere for a few months. I probably still have the hand out somewhere, I'll look for it tomorrow.

Onebyone, I hope you can find it. That would be great!

I have written dozens of patterns and can easily write instructions for this or one similar to it. I was trying to do the right thing, plus I was trying to take the easy way out---writing instructions can be complicated.

I haven't heard back from the company yet but will let you know what they say when they respond.

Many thanks for all your input.

You can resell patterns on ebay etc., there is no copyright issue with reselling the original pattern. Someone has already paid the pattern makers with the first purchase. You cannot copy the pattern and sell it as an original.

About the tree skirt. This is a simple wedge tree skirt. I would suggest getting a wedge ruler and make your own skirt. Just measure the size of the wedge (degree) you will need from your pattern. Then you can do the point or scallop on the end. You could do solid or printed one piece wedges and solid "tips" around the edge. Let your class decide. If you get one wedge ruler, you could make templates for your class. I wouldn't fret over using this pattern. Make your own. You cannot reprint the instructions. But you can write your own. Have fun!

I looked at most of my patterns and haven't found it. I'll keep looking. It could be stuck in a quilt book.