No Fabric Boycott Needed - Inform Yourself
 

Before everyone gets upset over the selvage statements, please inform yourself of the true meaning of the selvage or bolt end statements, such as, "licensed fabric," "personal use only," or "non-commercial home use only". Today, I spoke with the owner of a business, a LQS owner, and did some research. This site is boiled down into simple terms that we should all be able to understand. http://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/...edFabric.shtml If, after reading this link, you still want to avoid the purchase of these fine fabrics, O.K. That will just leave more for those of us who understand that we are not breaking the law.

This was a good subject to discuss because there was obviously some misunderstanding. If you were struck with panic, and spread the words to friends or other sites, please go back and correct your statements before we are accused of starting an urban legend.

If your LQS, discount store, thrift shop, internet sales, or wherever, sells fabric, you (the buyer) are safe. Buy what you want, make whatever you want, sell it where ever you want and let the stores continue to stock the fabrics which they think will move in their area.

Very informative reading.....Thank you for posting this!

Thanks for posting this website. It is good to see documented information, although some people will still prefer to spread the "sky is falling" ideas.

thanks ever so much for posting that informative link. it clears up a lot.

Thank you for the time and research you did on this.....very much appreciated!

That was great information...thanks for the post!

Excellent due dilligence! Thank you so much:thumbup:

Thanks ever so much for the info. I have copied it and saved it to my hard drive.
Have a blessed Thanksgiving.

I wonder how this affects the lawsuit brought against Emily Ceir? She and her book publisher are being sued by a designer for using a fabric in a quilt pattern book. Fortunately for Emily, the publisher is taking care of the legal costs of fighting the lawsuit. The fabric manufacturer actually donated the fabric to Emily!

Using the fabric in a book could be considered a straight copyright violation because the fabric has been reproduced...same as if you were to post a photo of it here. It is the reproduction of the fabric, not the use of it in a quilt, that is in question I believe, and that is copyright law, not trademark law.

Thank you for doing the research on this. I was getting concerned as more and more fabrics, even those at Walmart, are now with the for non commercial home use only on them. Now I won't have to warn my customers to buy it AND I can buy the one I want to make a wall hanging to sell!

Phyllis
QuiltingGrannie

Just remember that the Tabberone site is from attorneys. They are capable of defending themselves in court, something I am not able to do. If I am sued, I have to pay an attorney to fight the lawsuit. Most of the time I would not be able to recover my attorney fees even if the suit is dismissed or there is a ruling in my favor.

Personally I think there are plenty of fabrics in the world for me not to have to worry about the ones with restrictions. This situation is very similar to that in the machine embroidery world. I just make sure I don't buy designs with restrictions. That way I don't have to worry about what I eventually do with them.

Pam

Great link! Thanks for posting it!

Than you so much! Clears a lot up! Whew! I really did not want to limit myself in fabric purchases.

Tabberone (Karen Dudnikov) is not an attorney...she is an eBay seller.

Thanks for the info that's great to know. Sue

Gosh I am so glad to find this out before I go to bed. It could have kept me from a good nights sleep. Just kidding.

Thank you very much for posting that now everyone can go back to sewing again with a big sigh of relief.

If you are not sure. Simply contact the copyright offices, they are more then happy to explain. I do it by email, then I have copies of the response.

Good information to alleviate panic. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for posting the info. and clearning up this issue.

Thanks for the info. My question then is related to embroidery designs. Would they also be covered by copyright? At the site where embroidery designs are offered, there is a statement regarding sale of items using these designs. Just wondering.

Tabberone has been cited here numerous times. The fact remains that the manufacturer put that "restriction" on their selvage, and we must assume that it was because they plan to try to enforce it, even if there is no legal basis to do so. I prefer not to buy a product from a manufacturer who does that. There are plenty of other fabrics available.

PLEASE stop posting this site...it is NOT the Holy Bible of Copyright law. and YES, people are sueing/being sued over the use of fabric to make items for sale that have this "not for commercial use" printed on the selvages.
I belong to several designer forums and it is really causing many issues in the industry.

LIke one lady said, she respects, the Copyrighted art, the logo's, the cartoon character's, etc, but when she found a bolt of a plain brown fabric with white polka dots on it, and it had that statement on the selvage, she drew the line....

the whole business is out of line and if we do NOT send a message to the Designers & Manufacturer's of the fabric that have that statement, then it will continue to grow and fester away at our guild raffle quilts, our baby charity quilts, you name it....it will always be a thorn, a dividing wall, etc....

This is certainly interesting as fabric manufacturers routinely send out new fabric lines to magazines and or quitmakers as a way of promoting their lines. Shops kits the fabric which sells more fabric and makes more commission for the designer.

Thank you. I read the Tabberone Disclaimer
It was very helpful.

This was a great read for sure. Bottom line is whether it is fabric or patterns that we purchase, it is stating that they have no right to tell us what we can or cannot do with it. So my understanding is, if I want to share a piece of fabric I purchased with someone I can and If I purchased a quilt pattern I can also share this, so long as I'm not reproducing the pattern and selling it. Yes it also states that some will challenge you, but really have no leg to stand on legally. Just most of us would shake in our boots if we were challenged. If you are wondering where I read the part about sharing patterns it was under the First Sale Doctrine part. So, if I have misunderstood someone correct me.

A photograph of a piece of fabric in a quilt is very different from reproducing the fabric.

It has been my understanding also that the first sale doctrine holds true here. There are always people/firms/manufacturers that will try to push the law.
I find the case of Emily Cier interesting as the publisher of the book is taking on her battle, but the manufacturer who sent the fabric for her to use with the understanding there would be a book, has decided to "not get involved". Really, how is that? She would not have had that fabric without that manufacturer giving it to her. It seems to me that the battle should be between the designer and the manufacturer who released the designer's fabric for use. What Ms. Cier did was nothing more than use fabric as it is intended-- to make something out of it.
I also find it sad that a civil court would waste time and energy to try yet another case of the nature, when they are
fully booked on other things. But then, attorneys have bills to pay too, I guess.

Thanks for the information!

Emily Cier has been mentioned a time or two. Can anyone give some reference where I can read about the case or is it just rumor.

I appreciate the information and read all of it. Still, I think, how do I defend myself if a large corporation comes after me? I'm a fighter but how do you match the money they have to fight the fight? I agree with the poster that we can make a point by not buying the fabric and at the same time avoid the possibility of being tormented by a lawyer/corporation with the time and money to pursue what might be a frivolous lawsuit that I can not afford to defend.

I'll certainly be thinking on this issue.

emily cier is being very careful not to mention the suit on her blog. here is the link. i did a search and could not find the case.... yet. http://carolinapatchworks.com/blog/

She has probably been advised by the attorneys involved not to mention it anywhere - even to close friends.

i truly believe that if you are in the business of making items for sale from licensed fabrics, it would serve you well to get professional business advice beforehand (i.e. legal, financial). i think it is naive to do otherwise. i made and sold children's clothing for years, most of it was made from my own designs or some commercial patterns that i suffiently changed from the original that the final design no longer resembled the pattern. i also had a financial service business that i ran for 15 years. i made sure that i got legal advice, used the proper content labels in my clothing, kept myself abreast of the laws that would affect me and carried any of the necessary insurances that i needed to attempt to guard myself against lawsuits. believe me that still did not prevent me from receiving a lawsuit threat. i still had to prepare myself for the lawsuit and did my research on the law and the limit of my responsibility.

you cannot stop lawsuits no matter what, not in this litigious society. someone could sue you for not making full disclosure of the materials you use in your items, for using a copyrighted pattern or fabric in your design for sell, for using a protected image without written authorization, etc. my best advice is if you are making money by selling handmade items, get the proper legal advice needed. pay the legal fees to get the advice in writing, know the laws and your responsibility or exposure under those laws and be prepared if a lawsuit comes your way.

think if all of the people (students, homemakers, etc) that were sued by the music industry for having downloaded music. the music industry knew that many of these people did not have the money to fight them but that did not stop them from suing. virtually all of the people lost in these suits and had to pay up regardless of ability to pay. know that it can happen and it may happen. i believe in being informed before i start any money making venture.

when dealing with the public, there are government public safety protections out there they you as the seller need to be aware of. content labeling is one of them. what's copyrighted is another. just do your best to be informed.

It seems like people sue over nothing, and once again it shows that big Corp companies can stick it to the small/private local business owners that are just trying to make a few extra dollars. It reminds me of something that happened here last month that I found very weird, I was at the LQS to take a placemat making class, I've never made any and always wanted to and I'm new to sewing/quilting. So we all said that there were no patterns available up front in our class folders. She said well I told the owner 3 weeks ago to make sure they ordered them. The owner said they did but they're out of print and she couldn't get them. So the instructor asked her to photocopy the pattern that she had. I was wondering what was taking so long so I went up front - she had to call the woman that made the pattern to clear it with her that she could photocopy the original pattern. My only thought was who would know??

I guess in some ways it's a similar situation that other lady designed it and if I was to stick a bunch of them up on Etsy I could be sued since I'd be selling this woman's design without having the ok from her to use her pattern, I guess it would be similar to patent law - my BIL had to recently go to Congress because Apple was using something that he had a patent on and Apple and RIM didn't get his approval first.

She did the right thing - kudos to her!

Thank you for clarifying this! What was being said didn't make sense but it was scarey nevertheless. Again, thanx....