Holice

Emily Cier has been mentioned a time or two. Can anyone give some reference where I can read about the case or is it just rumor.

lonestardreams

I appreciate the information and read all of it. Still, I think, how do I defend myself if a large corporation comes after me? I'm a fighter but how do you match the money they have to fight the fight? I agree with the poster that we can make a point by not buying the fabric and at the same time avoid the possibility of being tormented by a lawyer/corporation with the time and money to pursue what might be a frivolous lawsuit that I can not afford to defend.

I'll certainly be thinking on this issue.

Havplenty

emily cier is being very careful not to mention the suit on her blog. here is the link. i did a search and could not find the case.... yet. http://carolinapatchworks.com/blog/

lots2do

She has probably been advised by the attorneys involved not to mention it anywhere - even to close friends.

olebat

Today was suppose to be a relaxing day alone, just sewing. Instead, I've been reading legal sites trying to solve this question for us all. Believe me, sifting through legal babel is not easy. However, this statement from a Supreme Justice sums it up. The United States Supreme Court gives crafters the right to sell handmade fabric items according to the "first sale doctrine" upheld in the court ruling of Quality King Distributors, Inc. vs. L'Anzaresearch Int'l, Inc (98 F.3d 1109, reversed). Justice Stevens: "The whole point of the first sale doctrine is that once the copyright owner places a copyrighted item in the stream of commerce by selling it, he has exhausted his exclusive statutory right to control its distribution."

I don't think further research is necessary. Now, I'm headed to the sewing room.

Havplenty

i truly believe that if you are in the business of making items for sale from licensed fabrics, it would serve you well to get professional business advice beforehand (i.e. legal, financial). i think it is naive to do otherwise. i made and sold children's clothing for years, most of it was made from my own designs or some commercial patterns that i suffiently changed from the original that the final design no longer resembled the pattern. i also had a financial service business that i ran for 15 years. i made sure that i got legal advice, used the proper content labels in my clothing, kept myself abreast of the laws that would affect me and carried any of the necessary insurances that i needed to attempt to guard myself against lawsuits. believe me that still did not prevent me from receiving a lawsuit threat. i still had to prepare myself for the lawsuit and did my research on the law and the limit of my responsibility.

you cannot stop lawsuits no matter what, not in this litigious society. someone could sue you for not making full disclosure of the materials you use in your items, for using a copyrighted pattern or fabric in your design for sell, for using a protected image without written authorization, etc. my best advice is if you are making money by selling handmade items, get the proper legal advice needed. pay the legal fees to get the advice in writing, know the laws and your responsibility or exposure under those laws and be prepared if a lawsuit comes your way.

think if all of the people (students, homemakers, etc) that were sued by the music industry for having downloaded music. the music industry knew that many of these people did not have the money to fight them but that did not stop them from suing. virtually all of the people lost in these suits and had to pay up regardless of ability to pay. know that it can happen and it may happen. i believe in being informed before i start any money making venture.

when dealing with the public, there are government public safety protections out there they you as the seller need to be aware of. content labeling is one of them. what's copyrighted is another. just do your best to be informed.

Sheila_H

It seems like people sue over nothing, and once again it shows that big Corp companies can stick it to the small/private local business owners that are just trying to make a few extra dollars. It reminds me of something that happened here last month that I found very weird, I was at the LQS to take a placemat making class, I've never made any and always wanted to and I'm new to sewing/quilting. So we all said that there were no patterns available up front in our class folders. She said well I told the owner 3 weeks ago to make sure they ordered them. The owner said they did but they're out of print and she couldn't get them. So the instructor asked her to photocopy the pattern that she had. I was wondering what was taking so long so I went up front - she had to call the woman that made the pattern to clear it with her that she could photocopy the original pattern. My only thought was who would know??

I guess in some ways it's a similar situation that other lady designed it and if I was to stick a bunch of them up on Etsy I could be sued since I'd be selling this woman's design without having the ok from her to use her pattern, I guess it would be similar to patent law - my BIL had to recently go to Congress because Apple was using something that he had a patent on and Apple and RIM didn't get his approval first.

Peckish

She did the right thing - kudos to her!

Sierra

Thank you for clarifying this! What was being said didn't make sense but it was scarey nevertheless. Again, thanx....

olebat

​Haveplenty, I wholeheartedly agree with you. Anyone who is selling in quantities which requires a business licence should have legal and financial advice. For the sake of the recent threads, I believe the intent was to protect the casual seller. The one who just made quilts for expected twins, who were still born. The family didn't want to keep the quilts, so they were sold at the local flea market to kelp pay for expenses sort of occasion; or a twice a year local craft fair or at a yard sale. Any item sold in mass quantity then becomes commercial, and different laws apply. Also, wording is critical. I cannot sell a John Deer purse, but I can sell a purse made of John Deer fabric.

A whole other can of worms is opened when we begin to use the internet. Just posting our photos can get us into trouble, and ignorance of the law is no excuse. What's a crafter to do? My cat says, "Sew, store, and snore."