Beware of copyrights
07-11-2015, 12:04 PM
#41
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Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Illinois
Posts: 2,140
I know, right?! I saw a pattern once that was a public domain pattern with one tiny appliqued heart or something like that added to the pattern. The crazy thing is that the pattern maker claimed that making small changes to their pattern would be derivative. Ummm..... isn't that exactly what you just did, Mr. PatternMaker? *shaking my head*
07-11-2015, 01:04 PM
#42
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Location: Southeast Georgia, USA
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please keep discussion "generic."
no more bashing specific designers or i will close the thread.
no more bashing specific designers or i will close the thread.
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07-11-2015, 01:05 PM
#43
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Location: Southeast Georgia, USA
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keep in mind, also, that copyright law varies by country.
what might be legal in the USA might not be elsewhere - and vice versa.
what might be legal in the USA might not be elsewhere - and vice versa.
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07-11-2015, 02:48 PM
#44
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Gosnells Western Australia
Posts: 1,021
changing the design a little bit makes the new design a derivative.
you cannot claim copyrights to derivatives because they are not original. not in fact, and not in the eyes of the law.
i believe - but am not positive - the copyrights become the property of whoever owns the copyrights to the design from which they were derived.
you cannot claim copyrights to derivatives because they are not original. not in fact, and not in the eyes of the law.
i believe - but am not positive - the copyrights become the property of whoever owns the copyrights to the design from which they were derived.
Ugg Boots have been made in Australia for over 100 years and are an Aussie icon; A few years ago a US company decided to market their Ugg Boots and told Australia to stop using "their trade name". Naturally Australia won that case. There have been similar cases of course where the giants have lost.
07-12-2015, 07:26 AM
#45
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Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Portland OR
Posts: 91
This is a very useful clarification that was included in the US Copyright Office's new compendium released in late December 2014.
920.1 Patterns for Making Articles
920.1 Patterns for Making Articles
The drawings and text in a pattern book may be copyrightable, if they are sufficiently original. This may include textual instructions, technical diagrams that demonstrate cutting, stitching, weaving, or other techniques required by the pattern, as well as illustrations of the completed items.
A registration for a pattern book generally does not extend to individual pattern pieces that may be used to create a useful article, such as shapes that may be traced and used to make a sleeve for a dress, because they have an intrinsic utilitarian function. Nor does the registration extend to any useful article that may be created with the pattern, such as an item of clothing. For a general discussion of useful articles, see Section 924.
A registration for a pattern book generally does not extend to individual pattern pieces that may be used to create a useful article, such as shapes that may be traced and used to make a sleeve for a dress, because they have an intrinsic utilitarian function. Nor does the registration extend to any useful article that may be created with the pattern, such as an item of clothing. For a general discussion of useful articles, see Section 924.
07-12-2015, 08:00 AM
#46
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Monroe, IN
Posts: 2,283
This is a very useful clarification that was included in the US Copyright Office's new compendium released in late December 2014.
920.1 Patterns for Making Articles
920.1 Patterns for Making Articles
The drawings and text in a pattern book may be copyrightable, if they are sufficiently original. This may include textual instructions, technical diagrams that demonstrate cutting, stitching, weaving, or other techniques required by the pattern, as well as illustrations of the completed items.
A registration for a pattern book generally does not extend to individual pattern pieces that may be used to create a useful article, such as shapes that may be traced and used to make a sleeve for a dress, because they have an intrinsic utilitarian function. Nor does the registration extend to any useful article that may be created with the pattern, such as an item of clothing. For a general discussion of useful articles, see Section 924.
A registration for a pattern book generally does not extend to individual pattern pieces that may be used to create a useful article, such as shapes that may be traced and used to make a sleeve for a dress, because they have an intrinsic utilitarian function. Nor does the registration extend to any useful article that may be created with the pattern, such as an item of clothing. For a general discussion of useful articles, see Section 924.
This is a Supreme Court case and still referred to yet today.
This information is taken directly from the court opinion. It is not taken out of context nor is it altered.
From Baker v Selden, 101 US 99 (1879)
¶ 6 But there is a clear distinction between the book, as such, and the art which it is intended to illustrate. The mere statement of the proposition is so evident, that it requires hardly any argument to support it. The same distinction may be predicated of every other art as well as that of book-keeping. A treatise on the composition and use of medicines, be they old or new; on the construction and use of ploughs, or watches, or churns; or on the mixture and application of colors for painting or dyeing; or on the mode of drawing lines to produce the effect of perspective, would be the subject of copyright; but no one would contend that the copyright of the treatise would give the exclusive right to the art or manufacture described therein. The copyright of the book, if not pirated from other works, would be valid without regard to the novelty, or want of novelty, of its subject-matter. The novelty of the art or thing described or explained has nothing to do with the validity of the copyright. To give to the author of the book an exclusive property in the art described therein, when no examination of its novelty has ever been officially made, would be a surprise and a fraud upon the public. That is the province of letters-patent, not of copyright. The claim to an invention or discovery of an art or manufacture must be subjected to the examination of the Patent Office before an exclusive right therein can be obtained; and it can only be secured by a patent from the government.
Using words we all understand, it says that items made using copyrighted information are not covered by the copyright.
Last edited by Buckeye Rose; 07-12-2015 at 08:02 AM.
07-12-2015, 08:25 AM
#47
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Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Portland OR
Posts: 91
"Doesn't this apply to the person trying to acquire a copyright and not to the person trying to use a copyrighted pattern?"
Yes, it does, but is directly applicable to the question of whether or not finished items can be sold. If useful items cannot be copyrighted, then how does it follow that the holder of the copyright on the pattern thinks they have any say in what is done with objects made from their patterns for useful items? Design rights are not included in copyright--in the US you cannot hold design rights on useful items either. The separable original art aspects are copyright protected, but to be perfectly honest, the very great majority of quilts made do not include original art.
Yes, it does, but is directly applicable to the question of whether or not finished items can be sold. If useful items cannot be copyrighted, then how does it follow that the holder of the copyright on the pattern thinks they have any say in what is done with objects made from their patterns for useful items? Design rights are not included in copyright--in the US you cannot hold design rights on useful items either. The separable original art aspects are copyright protected, but to be perfectly honest, the very great majority of quilts made do not include original art.
Last edited by MaryTG; 07-12-2015 at 08:32 AM. Reason: addition:
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