patterns that are in public domain can be used by anyone for any purpose they want. there is a difference between using common blocks and using someones quilt design. it is what you do with the blocks you make that makes all the difference. there are tons of quilt designs that everyone uses, like log cabin block layouts; barn raising...it is when a person does something totally different and claims it as their own then chooses to share the pattern that the problem seems to come up. when you buy that pattern and make it 'their' way it is still 'their' design, you have to get their permission to show it, you can not 'share' the pattern/design...if your friend wants to make one too she has to buy her own pattern...

Scissor Queen is absolutely correct. Designers cannot tell you what to do with the finished objects made from their patterns. You can even sell them.

There was a big to-do about this on a very popular yarn crafts forum that included an official statement from the US copyright office. It's different in other countries, but in the US copyright only protects the pattern (i.e. you can't drop it during a ticker tape parade or try to sell the pattern as your own). But it does not carry over to the object you make from the pattern.

However, there are those who have a vested interest in making people think differently (ever seen the phrase "for personal use only"?).

So... What about the pictures that are displayed here? This is a public forum, does that mean that those pictures are a violation?

Ok, so here's what I'm thinking, and what I've seen posted on machine embroidery sites:
The Pattern itself is indeed copyrighted by the designer who came up with it.
The Product of the pattern is not "a design" and therefore is not copyrighted.
Correct, we cannot reproduce the Pattern and sell/display/give away/distribute,
but we can do as we like with the Product we make from the pattern.

I have to agree with this. MONEY TALKS. We should stop buying quilt magazines that don't allow us to display or sell what we've made from a pattern purchased in their publication. One more reason to add to my list of why I should buy EQ7.

Another part of a good question.

The pictures of anything are the property of the person who took the picture.

But if you (meaning anyone in general) say for instance took a picture of someone else's pattern, you would have violated the designer's rights. Unless you had their permission of course.

If you post your own picture of your own work, you are good to go.

But if you post a picture from a magazine or someone else's website or the cover of a pattern or book, that's a violation -

Meaning, "If it ain't yours, it's someone else's."

But note: We post and share pictures of quilt shows all the time. No one objects.
I have seen entries at quilt shows where they won't allow pictures taken of their quilt on display. I understand this, but it's a sure thing that with phone cameras, etc, there are pictures taken of Everything All The Time Everywhere regardless of what the quilt owner says.

If it's on show in any manner, it will be photo'd and sent around.

FYI - That's where this question came from

If, as McCalls asserts in this recent article, copyright restrictions are what Mccalls claims they are, then why is it that nowhere on the McCalls web site, or the Simplicity web site, or the Butterick web site, or the Vogue web site, is there ANY mention of restrictions upon the use of patterns?

Of course these companies will lie to you about copyrights. It is in their best financial interests because you will buy pattern after pattern from them. I have not been able to locate a single federal lawsuit about the commercial use of patterns. And I have looked, and looked.

I do not have a copy of the recent McCalls article but when I get one I will deconstruct the McCalls lies on my web site.

McCalls has NO registered copyrights on its patterns. Neither does Butterick or Simplicity. Vogue has some back in the 1950s probably before the copyright office started refusing to register patterns.

I haven't bought a clothing/sewing pattern in a couple of decades,
but when I did, there were on some of them stated restrictions as to how many items could be made from that particular copy of the pattern before another pattern must be purchased;
stated restriction that even though the pattern was multi-sized ( as in Size X-Small thru X-Large all printed on one sheet ) it was forbidden to make more than one size item from the pattern;
and that usage must be limited to home non-commercial items, including not for charity sales.
I do not know what patterns say nowadays.
I hope the restrictions have changed.

As I understand this, credit to the designer should be on the quilt.