If someone wanted me to make them a quilt....I would take them to the quilt shop.....have them pay for the
fabric and then I would charge them for making the quilt....problem solved.

Originally Posted by MrsBoats
This (http://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/trademarks.shtml) is an interesting article on the ins and outs of trademark protection, and lack thereof. A lot of it boils down to the designers would like it to work like that, but don't have any legal standing. They DO have a lot of money, though, with which to hire bully lawyers to make it seem like they do.
[QUOTE=jaciqltznok;4706410]I wish people would STOP posting this site...it is so WRONG...and quite frankly SHE does not have the time, nor the money to research EVERY legal issue there is concerning the NEW copyright laws!

Jacquie, I have to ask you - what evidence can you present that the website is wrong? I just briefly searched the internet and find evidence that supports her claims. On the US Dept of Justice, Offices of the US Attorneys website I found: "The first sale doctrine, codified at 17 U.S.C. § 109, provides that an individual who knowingly purchases a copy of a copyrighted work from the copyright holder receives the right to sell, display or otherwise dispose of that particular copy, notwithstanding the interests of the copyright owner. The right to distribute ends, however, once the owner has sold that particular copy. See 17 U.S.C. § 109(a) & (c). Since the first sale doctrine never protects a defendant who makes unauthorized reproductions of a copyrighted work, the first sale doctrine cannot be a successful defense in cases that allege infringing reproduction." I didn't see any NEW copyright laws although it does seem there is some discussion of change due to digital media. BUT that wouldn't change the above doctrine. When we buy fabric the copyright holder(fabric manufacturer or designer) no longer can tell us what to do with it. We have bought ownership of the fabric and we can sell, display or throw it away if we want and they have no recourse.
I think these fabric manufacturers, including licensed sports, etc are trying to intimidate people. There is a suggestion that you have a disclaimer for example, if you sell items made from licensed fabric so buyers are clear your item is not an official NFL item but your item made from fabric with an NFL design.

In friendship,

I agree with you 100% there!

This is a problem. Many people aren't reading the previous posts. When there is such an article, this means that many, if not most of the new posters aren't getting any value out of the discussions on p. 2, 3, 4, for instance, because they only read the first post.

Anyway....about the big companies...
I've also wondered how they can possibly get away with this. My sister runs a business, and has received "cease and desist" letters from a company. The big guys do often like to threaten the little companies. However, my sis's lawyer says that the big guy doesn't have any legal precedent to send the "cease and desist" letter, so they continue on.

But...I also wonder why the big companies would bother going after home crafters when it is obvious what they are doing (making them in their living room and can't possibly be actually going into it in a big way) and they ignore or do nothing about the Chinese imports that are really good knock-offs and made in factories overseas and are being imported by the thousands if not millions.

If someone wants to use a certain brand and say that they use "Moda" or "J-Lo" or whatever....it seems like all you are doing is spreading around the brand name til it becomes a household word. Companies normally pay BIG BUCKS for such advertising.

How many of us use words like "Kleenex" to mean "facial tissue" and "Coke" or "Pepsi" to mean a cola or even just a carbonated drink? (Over here they use "Hoover" as a verb meaning to vacuum! :)) These are ultimate compliments to these companies. They shouldn't try to squelch use of their names--all people are doing is spreading their brand around and making it even bigger.

But, I would love to see some real evidence that people have actually lost such a court case to a big company telling them to quit selling their home made craft items. Is there a link anywhere that someone can post here? I'm not surprised that they go around telling people to do this, but can someone give us some evidence to this. Thanks.

Very interesting... Never noticed that on my materials... but will look from now on... I too will stay away... don't plan to sell but as things could change... and would not know what lurks in the stash....
Thanks for the heads up...

The most often referred website is www.TabberOne.com. She started this website after she had multiple run ins with big corporations regarding her use of licensed in items she was trying to sell on E-bay. She won. Another website I found is www.quiltingbusiness.com/quilting-copyright.htm. He references TabberOne in his article. In addition go to http://www.owenandemma.com/ralph/ralph.html. They have a detailed exchange they had with legal representatives of the Ralph Lauren corp. and they also give a couple of court case examples. And - if you co to ebay today and search "handmade Ralph Lauren fabric or handmade NFL fabric" you will see handmade items being sold using those fabrics. Some of the sellers use disclaimers but most do not. I also saw an ipad case made with Stars Wars fabric.
Get yourself a cup of coffe and plan on several hours - it all makes for good, but time-concuming reading.

I agree I won't buy their fabric either then!

Last week I received some fabrics that I ordered to make my grandson a grey quilt. As I was laying some of it out, I discovered on the "plain" selvage, not the one with the manufacturer, color dots, etc. a notice that the fabric is not to be used for anything but personal use. Now if you went into a store and were to look at the selvage for this disclaimer you would not see it, because it would be on the nonvisible selvage on the bolt. This really irks me. And the thing is, this is just dotted fabric, nothing special about it. Here are pics of it. If I didn't need the colorway so badly for the quilt, I would return it and complain.

This has already been discussed extensively. Look for threads in the last month. You can use fabric you have purchased to make and sell whatever you want. Even those who make stuff from licensed fabrics can ignore the bullying. Licensing is required for a maker of the fabric, not the user of it. So, go ahead and ignore that selvedge stuff. It falls under the same doctrine as used books.

Totally agree...yeah Amy Butler!