tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5435738925121167166.post6312541483714448872..comments2024-03-19T14:28:43.361+00:00Comments on Kitschy Coo: The Great Big Fabric Licensing DebateKitschy Coohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14498979148251880818noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5435738925121167166.post-84268646945660684832013-10-27T17:12:10.921+00:002013-10-27T17:12:10.921+00:00As far as I know it's not a case for criminal ...As far as I know it's not a case for criminal law unless you are selling goods that represent the real product/fabric and are claiming it to be the real deal when it is not. This would be the equivalent of selling counterfeit goods. If you have bought the licensed fabric and make it into another profitable (or non-profitable) product this would come under civil law based on infringement of a licence agreement. If taken to court, you will be fined and goods may be seized, but you cannot be criminally prosecuted/imprisoned for the offence. However when you purchase fabric, if you have not entered into a use agreement you are generally able to use it and sell it as you wish. I could be wrong, but from my own research that is what i understand to be true.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5435738925121167166.post-67162621914343156432013-01-06T10:03:29.628+00:002013-01-06T10:03:29.628+00:00My son wants to work with some fabrics to make ite...My son wants to work with some fabrics to make items to sell on and he particularly likes Pac-Man type designs. He is in the process of sourcing fabrics and I raised the issue of copyright with him before he spends his own hard-saved money on his stock. He is more interested in the actual designs than profiting from the fact that it would be Pac-Man or Star Wars but I do not want him ending up in trouble. Ebay is an obvious outlet for people starting out so would be interested in anyone's recent experiences in this area. Many thanks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5435738925121167166.post-15947323446230709152010-06-07T16:57:20.483+01:002010-06-07T16:57:20.483+01:00never heard of anyone going to prison for selling ...never heard of anyone going to prison for selling something made with licensed fabric. what is the point in manufacturing the fabric? why bother?eileensidewayshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01280115067803148397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5435738925121167166.post-26957741295729112332010-04-04T21:00:09.467+01:002010-04-04T21:00:09.467+01:00Oh, and I'd have no problem cutting up the des...Oh, and I'd have no problem cutting up the designer tablecloth ;)Heavenly Anarchisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07762741582565995661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5435738925121167166.post-21063589356650729372010-04-04T20:54:13.601+01:002010-04-04T20:54:13.601+01:00I use recycled fabrics for my designs so often use...I use recycled fabrics for my designs so often use supposed copyright fabrics for items. My take on this is that I have bought the fabric in good faith, at no point in the sale, even of new fabric bought online, is it ever pointed out to me that I have license restrictions. Consequently, I have no such agreement with them and feel I can do as I please with the fabric, as long as I do not claim it to be a 'so and so' dress - I usually call it a dress made with 'so and so' fabric. I stick to my conviction that I cannot be made to adhere to a licensing agreement that I never made before purchasing.<br />However, as a moderater of a parenting site I regularly remove wahm adverts for items copied from copyright characters - that is a clear breach of copyright laws (similar to the painting described previously). I would not dream of copying a character on my embroidery machine. But using bought fabric is not copying.<br />Oh, and being a small player definitely doesn't stop litigation or at least threats. At least one friend was told (quite rightly) to stop describing her fabric product with a company's name. And I myself received a cease and desist letter from a very well known car firm asking me to not use the name of their high class car to describe how good a wool wrap was - I duly complied and apologised as they were in the right.Heavenly Anarchisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07762741582565995661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5435738925121167166.post-74549282585578077572010-04-03T21:36:11.041+01:002010-04-03T21:36:11.041+01:00I've always assumed (with no basis in any fact...I've always assumed (with no basis in any fact) that they put that on there to give them room to go after bigger players. For example, it would be a big deal if Target (or some UK big box store) bought a bunch of fabric, contracted out to some other big player and then started selling shirts.<br /><br />As to @Lizzy's comment on the day care, it's not really the same thing. In that case they used the characters by themselves without permission or license. A more equivalent case would be if they had sewed up some Disney fabric into curtains for the day care. It was ridiculous of them to sue, but they had more of a case there than in a fabric use suit. <br /><br />I also don't know if any other license owner is as rabid about that sort of thing as Disney. :)auntninnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12474437813560233345noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5435738925121167166.post-54509772491112918672010-04-02T23:22:31.994+01:002010-04-02T23:22:31.994+01:00Not sure about TCFC I know Disney in particular do...Not sure about TCFC I know Disney in particular do go after the 'little guys' sometimes. There was a daycare in Florida that had (drawn by someone there I assume) Disney characters on the walls and Disney asked that they take them down... Though when the case was publicised Universal allowed the daycare use of their characters, ha =PLizzyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07177999866546739718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5435738925121167166.post-32028254542705806732010-04-02T16:45:38.789+01:002010-04-02T16:45:38.789+01:00Hiya,I have just pulled out my stash of this fabri...Hiya,I have just pulled out my stash of this fabric as i was totally unaware of any license on this fabric. i was worried as i've sold a couple of dresses too! Eeek!<br />BUT.. i don't have any of the wording you have on mine???<br />mine says "Care Bears TM 2003 the characters from cleveland, Inc. Used under license by Cranston Print Works Co. for V.I.P Fabrics 100% cotton and printed in the U.S.A http://cranstonvillage.com"<br />i dont see anything that says its not allowed to be used for "not" non commercial use???<br />i may be wrong?! but I would have been hesitant to use it if it had.<br />I bought some HUngry Caterpillar fabric on the basis to seel pre-made dresses, but the fabric clearly stated on that that i couldn't so i made gifts with it instead.<br />I'm a total airhead when it comes to anything legal, so i couldn't comment on the rights and wrongs?!<br />but i would have thought that you making the hoodie and being supplied tha fabric would be completely legal!! :-)Soph4Sophhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08409125380440759025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5435738925121167166.post-33245537724490464572010-04-02T16:39:28.684+01:002010-04-02T16:39:28.684+01:00@Mo: Thanks so much for your comments!
"Firs...@Mo: Thanks so much for your comments!<br /><br /><i>"First Sale Doctrine doesn’t apply here, so is only of passing interest (a lot of US intellectual property law is quite different to that here).</i><br /><br />Agreed. Just included US-centric stuff because there's a lot more information and about half my readers are from there!<br /><br /><i>"Theoretically, it’s entirely possible that a design is licensed solely for non-commercial use. This happens in other areas all the time (photography, software, etc.)."</i><br /><br />I think the problem for me as that yardage of fabric is a raw supply that's designed to be made into something else in a way that photography and software is not. As far as crafting supplies, I've only ever seen limited use clauses applied to fabric. I've never seen, for example, someone who makes beads or buttons restrict them to personal use only. Or yarn. But maybe that's because I only really buy fabric!<br /><br /><i>"However, I'm thoroughly unconvinced that you could ever be successfully sued for it unless you were running some significant enterprise in goods bearing licensed designs without holding a valid license for commercial sale."</i><br /><br />Yes, definitely! I think a lot of this comes down to enforcability and economies of scale for crafting businesses that just renders it Not A Big Deal.Kitschy Coohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14498979148251880818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5435738925121167166.post-11732703512795084452010-04-02T16:22:08.270+01:002010-04-02T16:22:08.270+01:00First Sale Doctrine doesn’t apply here, so is only...First Sale Doctrine doesn’t apply here, so is only of passing interest (a lot of US intellectual property law is quite different to that here).<br /><br />Theoretically, it’s entirely possible that a design is licensed solely for non-commercial use. This happens in other areas all the time (photography, software, etc.). Being able to resell the <i>fabric itself</i> is distinct from being able to resell the design imprinted upon it, and resale (as governed by the FSD in the US) is not the same as selling a product which incorporates the material, either.<br /><br />However, I'm thoroughly unconvinced that you could ever be successfully sued for it unless you were running some significant enterprise in goods bearing licensed designs without holding a valid license for commercial sale. <br /><br />Plus, in the case of making a hoodie for somebody, you could argue that you're not <i>selling the finished product</i>, you're just being paid for the time, effort and raw materials.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com