trouble unauthorize use of fabric.
 

I was considering making a some pot holders and other small items to sell with a state sports team fabric. The fabric has this stated on fabric.com This product is intended for personal use only. Any unauthorized use is prohibited. Can I make the items and sell them? Will I get some sort of lawsuit?

It’s fine. I researched the same thing before selling items made with NFL team fabric at a craft fair. You bought fabric from a store that bought it by first rights. You are allowed to Make and sell things using it. What the law prohibits is your copying the fabric. And you are not allowed to copy a pattern except for your own use. You can’t buy a pattern and make copies and sell them or give them away because the instructions are intellectual property.

i don't know if it's legally essential, but i think it would also be a good idea to make a little sign stating that the items are not "official NFL products." (or something to that effect.)

Legally, I believe zozee and Patrice are correct. However some companies and sports franchises are very protective of their logos. If they decide to sue, it would cost them little, but could bankrupt an average person. Even knowing that I was in the right, I would not take the chance.

The fabric manufacture buys the license to print the fabric. You cannot copy the fabric but can use the fabric to make whatever you like. It's okay to sell items made from the fabric.

Since I don't sell my quilts I don't worry about that stuff.

One time I was asked to make a golf towel with the logo of the State Uhiversity embroidered on it. I did some investigating and found that the university was very strict about the use of their logo, so I did not make the towel. Sometimes it just isn't worth the grief.

Beware! I sell baby clothes from NFL and State fabric on Etsy for several years. etsy removed the "Ohio State ' item due to complaint . No other team have been removed! Also my daughter makes and sells crochet hats with different teams and she had a Michigan State hat removed by Etsy. If you are doing local craft shows may be no problem! If asked to stop just say" Ok ! sorry! I will not sell anymore" Good luck!

just don't do Disney ones. they do not like anyone taking anything from them. Good luck, have fun.

Harley Davidson is also draconian in protecting it's logos and trademarks. I heard of a gal who was trying to sell or maybe displaying an HD T-shirt quilt at a large rally. keep in mind she had already paid for these t-shirts so HD got their piece of the pie at the original point of sale. She then cut them up and made the quilt, I think she was using it as a sample to make and sell HD T-shirt quilts for people who would give her their old HD shirts and pay her to make the quilt. HD people showed up at her booth and confiscated the quilt! Don't know if she ever got it back or not. I think her mistake was doing it at a big rally where HD had a presence. Had she chosen a small local venue like a swap meet where HD wasn't there, she would not have been harassed by them. As Dunster mentioned, these entities have very deep pockets. They will take you to court and drag it out until you run out of money or give up, even if you are within the law (of copyright and trademark infringement).

that was a case for 9 1 1 - so the police could confiscate the HD people. :hunf:

I read about some woman who had Mickey Mouse tattoo and she posted a picture of it online. Disney said no. The last I heard she was going to court. I have no idea how that will be resolved. The tattoo inker who copied the image was involved too. My embroidery machine has Disney designs built in and I was told I could use them on items to sell. I never have but I do see lots of embroiders use Disney designs at craft shows.

So true. Not worth the risk.

this reminds me of McDonald's hamburger chain telling people in Britain (maybe Scotland) they couldn't use McDonald name in their businesses. sigh, it was their family name. what should they use? the world gets crazy at times.

! They sued a restaurant called McDarma's in Santa Cruz for trademark infringement.Yeah, soooo many people are going to confuse your hamburgers with vegetarian food, Ronald. https://people.com/archive/sued-by-m...-vol-29-no-17/

I was at Apple Hill, which is a semi-local fall themed tourist trap, and one of the vendors there did Disney art that was kind of like multilayered animation cels but stiff, like shrinky-dinks. I was so tempted to ask him how he got around Disney's trademark protection police, but my son was a vendor and I didn't want to stir anything up that might reflect on him. If I had been the vendor, I would have jumped right in, lol.

It's a bit of a sticky issue. I say it is fine to sell crafted items made with licensed fabric but for sports teams I would have a disclaimer that these are not officially licensed products although the fabric is.

One thing to keep in mind is that the fabric has been licensed and made. You are not digitizing or drawing or otherwise "stealing" the image. That's definitely against the rules, say I wanted to make a fabric with an area map of Seattle including the surrounding cities. I could get the grid picture in many different legal ways, but I can't use an unchanged map or the City of Seattle Logo without getting their specific permission.

Some teams/groups are fussier than others. Sometimes that involves copyright protection so that their products do not become generic -- that's why Coca Cola sends out secret shoppers to go to fast food chains and ask for a Coke and why they are supposed to say "we have Pepsi".

Legal Zoom has some nice breakdowns of issues that concern us:
https://info.legalzoom.com/can-make-...ric-21253.html

Always nice when what I think agrees with what other people think :)

I have to admit, at least one of my Seahawk shirts is not an officially licensed product, yet it is legally sold just not as "official merchandise of the NFL". I started my career in the creative department of a large advertising agency and am a big believer in copyright protection -- but I'm also a huge believer of personal use, I'm a little less certain when it comes to sales.