Tabberone's Hall of Shame - Paragon Patterns

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Paragon Patterns
Hall Of Shame Member
Page Added July 4, 2008

We started out with Paragon Patterns being just one of many craft site listed on the Craft Sites Page in the Hall Of Shame but we just can't ignore what we would characterize as the most obvious, blatently self-serving, lying tripe perpetuated by Susan Wigley of Paragon Patterns upon the public. We just had to give Paragon Patterns their own page.
Susan Wigley of Paragon Patterns has authored several papers in which she makes unsupported and false statements about sewing patterns as well as licensed fabrics and embroidery designs.
In a piece dated August 28th, 2007, titled Copyrights and the Sewing Industry, she makes the following false statements about patterns:

If you are planning to sell the items you sew don't use commercial patterns unless you have permission in writing
As we have stated many times, this is a lie perpetuated by pattern designers. Why? We don't know. They get their money from selling patterns, not the end product. Perhaps it's an ego thing with them. The copyrignt on patterns ONLY covers the physical pattern itself; not anything made from that pattern.

You can, however, sew custom garments for customers using a commercial pattern if you buy one pattern for each person
This is another lie. They just want to sell you more patterns.

It is a direct violation of copyright laws to manufacture sewn products from a commercial pattern and claim it as your own design.
No, not really. It might be a violation of trademark laws to misrepresent the end product as being something it isn't, but, again, copyright law has nothing to do with the end product.

In a follow-up piece titled Copyrights and the Sewing Industry Part 2, she makes the following false statements about licensed fabrics and embroidery designs:

Disney, Warner Brothers, to name a few, strictly prohibit the use of their fabrics for manufacturing. Printed materials such as these are for personal use only.
Wrong. After Disney was sued, in 2002 by Tabberone, and settled rather quickly, they no longer go after crafters if they don't attempt to sell the items as being licensed but rather made from licensed fabric. Why did they settle? The lawsuit was a loser for them. Also settling with Tabberone over the use of licensed fabric are Major League Baseball Properties, Sanrio, a.k.a. Hello Kitty, United Media, over the use of licensed Peanuts fabric.

These companies often send spies out to trade shows and craft fairs to seek out the offenders and prosecute them immediately. They seize the property with their images & fabrics
The twin universities in Oklahoma tried to seize fabrics items at a craft show in 2007 and their representatives doing the seizing found themselves facing criminal larceny charges until the schools settled with the crafters. Susan Wigley thinks private business have police powers and can just barge into your home and seize what they claim is infringing. Wrong.

Embroidery Designs are almost always copyrighted and cannot be used for commercial purposes.
This simply is not true. When you buy the design, you are purchasing the instructions, whether written or computerized, on making the item. The 6th Circuit ruled in 2006 that embroidery software isn't a computer program and isn't afforded federal protection for computer programs.

This page isn't about disagreeing with someone's opinions. The Susan Wigley is flat wrong and she is deliberately contributing to the manufacturer (and in some cases the designer) misinformation concerning copyright restrictions.

Rebuttals
In an effort to provide a balanced view, we make the following offer to anyone who feels they have been wrongly accused on this web site.
If you, or your company, have been referenced on these pages, and you would like the chance to post a rebuttal, we will post your rebuttal (provided it is in good taste) so others can read it. The rebuttal must be submitted in a format that can easily be converted into HTML. We reserve the right to alter the rebuttal to make it more readable. However, we will not alter the content (unless there is offensive material to be removed). We also reserve the right to comment on any rebuttal received. Emails protesting the content of this web site may be treated as rebuttals by us at our discretion.
We made this offer a very long time ago and as of September 2008, only AnimieHot.com, in our Hall Of Shame, and Charlotte Perman (Sevenarts in our Hall Of Shame) have chosen to submit a formal rebuttal.