selling quilts

[Barbara C.]

is there a copyright infringement if i make a quilt that someone else has designed and sold the pattern like sue garmen? what brought up this issue is there was a quilt top on ebay that i was interested in buying and the woman said i could sell it locally but not on the web or ebay. I thought anything bought on ebay you could resell. then i wondered if that was true for any pattern that someone else has created. it was only the quilt top on ebay and i would finish it into a quilt.

[Barbara C.]

I think that your question is unclear. It's not copyright infringement to make a quilt from a Sue Garman pattern, like the TQS BOMs. Are you asking if it would be copyright infringement to sell a quilt that you made from a Sue Garman pattern?

[Barbara C.]

yes to your question of selling the quilt

[Hannelore N.]

The whole copyright subject is a minefield, and may be something that TQS could bring up in a future show. It also depends in which country you are.

I can't answer your question, but I'm thinking: If I go out and buy a book, a coat, a painting, etc. in a shop or anywhere on line, then I own it. So I can sell these items to anybody who is willing to buy them from me, right. So you bought a quilt top. It's now yours and you can sell it to somebody else.

I wonder if Alex or Ricky read this because they may be able to answer your question, because they surely come across copyright questions a lot.

Let's dream for a minute and imagine that I won the lottery and I immediately went to Ricky and bought his biggest and most expensive quilt from him. Two years later I have managed to spend all my lottery winnings and want to sell Ricky's quilt to my friend Margo who has always fancied sleeping under one of Ricky's quilts. Can Ricky stop me, because he doesn't like one of his quilts to be used in a bedroom that has lilac walls? I don't think so. He no longer owns the quilt.

But if, for example, the painting I bought in a charity shop for £20, is a fairly recent work by a totally obscure and unknown artist, and I decide to have the image printed on postcards and sell these for profit, the artist may knock on my door and want his/her share of the profit, or tell me to stop selling the image of his art work. What does the law say in this scenario?

Going back to Ricky's quilt in Margo's bedroom...... (and here we would need legal advice): Margo's home is featured in an 8-page spread in the magazine 'My Home'. She'll get paid $1000 for the article, and Ricky's quilt is featured, surrounded by those lilac walls on the front page. Ricky is furious. He detests the magazine even more than lilac walls. But can he stop Margo??? I haven't got a clue (scratching head), but I would love to find out.

I'm now going to buy a ticket for the next lottery draw......

[Margo C.]

Ohhh...$1000?????

[Margo C.]

lorchen, you brighten my day with your example. you understood what i was saying. I just wonder if these cover patterns created by quilt artists. hope alex or ricky see this and answer since they have created many patterns. thanks for your help.

[Alex A.]

this subject matter is a mine field - that is why there are copyright lawyers - At one point I received a request to have someone make items from my red work book to sell at a craft faire (or soemthing like that) - I forwarded the request to C&T and they declined it - I think if you purchased a RT quilt and wanted to resell it - that is not an issue - I am not sure about the postcard end of it - doesn't the artist retain the copy right? Again, this is BIG Business for lawyers.........

[Alex A.]

I think that your question is unclear. It's not copyright infringement to make a quilt from a Sue Garman pattern, like the TQS BOMs. Are you asking if it would be copyright infringement to sell a quilt that you made from a Sue Garman pattern?

I made a quilt from Sue Garman's 2009 TQS BOM quilt pattern. My intention is for this quilt to stay in my possession, but I think that it would be within my rights to sell it if I wanted. It took my blood, sweat and tears for a year, not to mention the $$$ to have it longarm quilted. So, I think it is my quilt to sell. If my son inherited my quilt and didn't love it, he wouldn't be breaking any copyright laws to sell it. By the way, my quilt label clearly states that the quilt was based on the design by Sue Garman.

On the otherhand, if I owned a quilt company that could quickly and inexpensively mass produce the same quilt to sell for a profit, then I believe that Sue Garman's permission would be required and that she should receive a percentage of the profits.

[Alex A.]

Nancy - you said the magic words in my book - give credit where credit is due on the back of the quilt. and also - mass production is a no no for sure. That is where a lawyer could make themselves big bucks - LOL

[Margo C.]

If you click twice on the photo you can see a closer view and read the credits!

[Keith D.]

Great label, Margo! (And very nice quilting BTW) Giving credit is nice, polite, respectful, and usually required.

The collection of rights protected by copyright law can be given to others in 'chunks' or partially conveyed to others. It's not an all-or-nothing kind of thing. And what you get or don't get in different situations really confuses me.

I'm going to play the flip side just for conversation. I think typically when I buy a copyrighted book or pattern - I receive personal use rights. I can make one or more (or derivative works) for myself. I don't think I can make one and sell it for profit without additional permission. And I don't think someone I give it to can sell it for profit without additional permission. Both of those sound like commercial use to me. I don't even think I can publicly display it without additional permission.

But maybe I could sell the work if I only sold it for the fair value of the materials and the construction labor. I don't think I could try to make a profit based on the artistic value of the design without additional permission.

I don't have a clue what rights I get when I buy an original work directly from the artist. I'd probably do it all wrong and send Ricky into some kind of 'lilac madness'. =)

You get significantly more rights with Dover publications...

[Alex A.]

OK - so We purchased David Taylor's quilt , Sally at the Window (YESS WE DID) - We cannot make note cards from it - but I could resell - love this thread

[Barbara C.]

Great label, Margo. A label is always an afterthought for me, if I even make one at all. I covet your backing fabric! Any chance you could share the name and maker of it?

Barbara

[Margo C.]

Great label, Margo. A label is always an afterthought for me, if I even make one at all. I covet your backing fabric! Any chance you could share the name and maker of it?

Barbara

Barbara, I found a scrap with a selvage that says it's by RJR/ 2008, but there is no design number on the selvage. It was a wide backing fabric, so it's not pieced.
Maybe that info will help you track some down.

[Margo C.]

BTW...if anyone is interested, there is a tutorial telling how I make labels using my computer and printer here: learn/projects/