Can I Sell a Project I Make Using Someone Else's Pattern?
You've fallen in love with a pattern and everyone's telling you that you "should make those and sell them -- you'd make a lot of money." But there's some question in your mind about that -- the pattern says "for personal use only" or maybe "for pocket money". Maria explains what these terms mean.
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flowergirl
Sep 12, 2017
I think this article is particularly intended for printed patterns and doesn't specifically address all types of crafts. If you do find a pattern online and you aren't sure about the copyright the best in you can do is contact the author.
Weberme
Feb 12, 2017
You know many people do not think about this when they see a pattern and make it and say I can make these and sell This is a good thing for all to know If I see something and decide I want to make it to sell I make it my own way without looking at that pattern so I do not copy theirs My my friend made her porcelian doll mold of her doll and took it to the toy fair and the next year someone had made one that could have been hers she was told that as long as at least of the doll looked different like the mouth and the face turned different then it is not copying her doll I do not know about now but that was about years ago Is that the way it still is Best thing to do is make your own…Read More design from the ideas
ajpett2 4230043
May 12, 2012
What about liscensed fabric? I understand about the copyright on patterns and books and such. But , for example Universisty fabric or Disney printed fabric. Isn't this the same. Can you legally use them to make items for sale, even if the design of the product is your own. I attend many craft fairs or have a booth at them, many vendors have product made from these items. What is everyones take on this.
happiewitch63 8932 784
Feb 28, 2012
'Can of worms' anyone? It's all so confusing. Perhaps if we could get articles geared to the different arts and crafts, it would help to clear up some of the confusion. Obviously there are differences between copying a work of literature vs using a dress pattern to make a wedding dress to be sold to a customer. And, at what point does a design become so distinctive from it's book pattern origins as to become a unique separate individual? Soooo many questions.
gailsteltenpohl 08 06764
May 11, 2011
Copyrights have to be applied for and fees must be paid wheither it is a poem or a pattern. You can't put the poem in your own book as your work but you could copy it and frame it for a wall decoration with the authors name attached, patterns can not be sold as your idea but you can use the pattern to create an object. The creation is yours but the pattern belongs to the creator. A least this is what I have been told.
cedar
Jan 26, 2011
If i purchase a stamp from al's stampmart and use the stamp to make cards to sell at flea markets or other craft events can I without breaking the laws? I see the stamp as a tool, just as I used a certain colored pencil. Am I right?
wendy jesser
Nov 13, 2010
I have started buying printed napkins and having them glued to ceramic tiles as coasters.I am not sure where I stand if I take them to market.It is my hobby but would like to get some sort of income from them.Can anyone inform me if I am infringing on a copyright.Thanks Wendy
mskeel
Nov 09, 2010
How about finding a pattern that you like and make changes to create a similar, but not identical item? Not just color choice or size, but make the arms, legs, head, ears bigger, or smaller, or .... I do mostly animals and/or toys with some hats thrown in. What about seeing a picture and trying to do something similar without a pattern?
Member 4961753
Oct 15, 2010
Copyright covers only the printed pattern itself, preventing you from making copies of *the pattern* and reselling it. Copyright protections DO NOT extend to finished objects created by following a pattern. That "for home use only" etc wording placed on patterns or in books/magazines has no legal basis whatsoever. This is a myth perpetuated by publishers, but they do not (legally can not) enforce it.
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