I posed this question a few yeas ago to an Intellectual Property Attorney and this was her response:

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This is my question – can I purchase a pattern – any pattern – and make that product for resale.

Update 3/15/10: I called an IP (Intellectual Property) lawyer this morning and she said that what you make from patterns is not protected under copyright. All that is protected is the pattern itself. Sew forth and multiply.
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Unless the design is unique rather than common there are so many variations of the finished product the designer cannot make this statement. Think patchwork pattern, the "basic black dress", shorts or tank top patterns, child's sundress pattern. They all follow the same fundamentals but the outcome is different.

you can still share, just don't print anything, nor sell anything that you did not design! Quilting entered the "industry" back in the 1980's, by the mid 1990's it was in full bloom and was a no man's land...everything was up for grabs, and she with the most $$$ to get things published, produced won the largest slice of the industry pie. Thus allowing "her/him" to make the rules/guidelines for the rest to follow!

Brenda did NOT lose...she won when the lady had to change the name of the quilt!

as I mentioned!

How does a person obtain a copyright? Is it done on each pattern/design? I would think there is some type of paperwork or something they have to do to get the copyright.

How do we know if there is truly a legal copyright on a design/pattern or if someone is just stating they have a copyright.

I am all for protecting the designer from the big companys coming in and mass producing their product or design with out any compensation, but lets get real for a minute. What threat is the average quilter to the designer when they want to sell a few purses at a craft fair to make a littke money to be able to buy more patterns and material, or the guild who made a quilt to raffle off to support their charity work. I feel every quilter should do the honorable thing and never photocopy a friends pattern. Go buy the pattern. Not only are you supporting the designer, but also your local quilt store, who is also trying to keep her doors open. I think copying patterns is the real problem! I spent close to 50 dollars on a "block of the month" pattern that I had been eyeing for a long time but did not have the cash to buy it right away. I could not believe it when someone asked me if they could get a copy of it. Really? When I teach an adult ed quilt class, I always have each participant buy a pattern, and I give the designer credit.

If one were to read and understand the government copyright website (and I have read it...), one would come to know that utilitarian items such as quilts and clothing are not eligible for copyright protection. They are not considered by our governing bodies to be works of art, so comparing the two is moot. This is not to imply that we, as quilters should not love and cherish our own quilts as artistic...it just means the government sees them as simple utilitarian items.

"Designs" as mentioned in the government copyright website only apply to the designs of ship hulls. The fashion and clothing/accessory industries lobbied to get their items covered under copyright protection, and it was the opinion of the Supreme court that allowing fashion designers protection under the law was not feasible. This is why it's commonplace to be able to buy a knock-off red carpet dress the day after it's seen on television.

Here is the issue I challenged during the last great copyright debate, and it still stands:
"And if you can find citation of a court case where someone was actually held accountable for selling an item made from a pattern that they bought, I will eat this laptop, piece by piece."

She was trying to block the sale, and did not. She managed to preserve her trademark of the name, but she had no control over the end product.

Janet

Food for thought from Leah Day at the Free Motion Quilting Project entitled Copyright Terrorism:

http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.c...terrorism.html

this is all so interesting as I do not understand why you cannot sell it I know I kaap refering back to this and no one ever answers but Bethany Reynolds came out with a book called Stack and whack was very popular I took a class and made several then I don't remember her name came out with a book called one block wonder I also took the class the only difference a slight change in cutting and set different but everything else basically the same another one is twister a total spinoff of a book called Square Dance and I have been seeing several others of these now so if they can do this and have books or patterns published why oh why can you not sell your quilt I for one would love to have an answer to this