Tabberone Logo

Tabberone is pronounced tab ber won
not tay ber own

Tabbers Temptations     www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/ Home | Site Index | Disclaimer | Email Me!
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"
Edmund Burke


Source: http://www.tlcdoll.com/textdoc/sewamc.html
March 22, 2009 - Content has not been altered

McCall's Patterns Magazine - Fall 1994
Ask Meg Carter
Dear McCall's Customers,

Every week we receive several letters asking for permission to sell items (both craft and apparel) made from our patterns. These letters usually look like this:

"I've used several McCall's patterns to make gifts for friends and family. Everyone things they are just wonderful! Recently, my husband and I attended a crafts fair and he thought my crafts were even better than most of what we saw for sale. Would it be possible for McCall's to grant me permission to make and sell craft items created from McCall's patterns? I'd be happy to credit the pattern number on each item."

While we are delighted to hear that our customers enjoy our patterns, we must decline to grant the rights to produce or manufacture items made from our patterns which are intended for sale. Not only would such production be a violation of the copyright we hold on each pattern (extending for thirty-seven years from the time we issue the pattern), but in certain cases, it would also violate the rights of our licensees, such as Nancy Zieman, Kitty Benton, or Faye Wine.

In purchasing a pattern, you purchase the right to make up that garment or craft item for personal use only. You may use the pattern for personal use as many times as you would like, either for items you keep or for gifts. You may not use our patterns to create items which you intend to sell.

"But," you say, "I'm not really in business. I'm just trying to make a little extra money." The fact is that once you begin to profit by the sale of items, you are in business.

"I'm confused. Does this mean that all those seamstresses who are making garments for private customers are operating illegally?"

No, indeed. Essentially what happens with a seamstress arrangement is as follows. An individual purchases our patterns for personal use, but instead of doing the actual labor herself, she commissions someone else to make the item for her. It is perfectly legitimate for the seamstress to charge for her labor. That labor may even include the time spent shopping for the fabric and pattern the customer has selected. In some cases a customer may commission a seamstress to make several of a single item, such as bridesmaids' dresses, but in this case the seamstress is still sewing for specific clients, the bridesmaids.

Seamstresses should beware of clients who ask them to sew multiple items from a McCall's pattern which the client intends to resell. In this case both the client and the seamstress would be in violation of our copyright. Seamstresses should also beware of clients who commission multiple garments from a McCall's pattern for a club or organization, but do not give the seamstress the opportunity to fit each garment on the individual for whom it is intended. Such a use of McCall's patterns is no longer personal, but instead crosses the line into mass production and is a violation of our copyright.

In addition to these guidelines, you should also be aware that it is not enough to make small changes in a pattern and then call it your own. If the final item can be shown to have come from a McCall's pattern, you are in violation of our copyright.

If you would like more information about copyrights and marketing your own designs, we recommend that you refer to Creative Cash, How to sell your Crafts, Needlework, Designs & Know-how by Barbara Brabec. Although this book is not currently available in bookstores, it can be found in libraries or ordered directly from Barbara Brabec Productions, P.O. Box 2137, Naperville, IL 60567 for $16.95 including postage.

Meg Carter

General
Articles | Cease and Desist Letters | Federal Court Cases | FAQs & Whines | Glossary | Hall Of Shame | Contributions

Corporate Lawyers
Cartoons | Code Of Ethics | Courtroom Remarks | Definition Of A Lie | Jokes | Lawyers | Lying | Who Have Lied

eBay - Land The Game

Definitions

Trademark Definitions
Blurring   |   Confusion   |   Damages   |   Dilution   |   History   |   Initial Interest Confusion   |   Likelihood Of Confusion   |   Material Difference Standard
Parallel Imports   |   Post-sale Confusion   |   Puffery   |   Secondary Meaning   |   Subsequent Confusion   |   Trademark Abuse
Unauthorized Use   |   Unfair Competition   |   What is a Trademark?
Copyright Definitions
Angel Policies   |   Contributory Infringement   |   Copyrightability   |   Copyright Extortion   |   Copyright Misuse Doctrine
Derivative   |   The Digital Millennium Copyright Act   |   EULA   |   Fair Use   |   First Sale Doctrine   |   Product Description
Registration   |   Registration Denied   |   What is a Copyright?   |   What is not Copyrightable?
Other Issues
Embroidery Designs   |   FAQs & Whines   |   Image and Text Theft   |   Licensed Fabric   |   Licensing & Licenses
Patterns   |   Patterns Index   |   Profit   |   Quilting   |   Selvage   |   Stanford School of Law Case Outline
Tabberone Disclaimer   |   Trademark Extortion   |   Urban Myths   |   What To Do If You Are Veroed

Federal Court Cases
Alphabetically | by Federal Circuit | by Subject | by Court Quotations

Federal Statutes
Copyright Act 17 U.S.C. 5 | Digital Millenium Copyright Act 17 U.S.C. 12 | Lanham Act 15 U.S.C. 22

VeRO (Verified Right's Owner Program)
VeRO Commandments | VeRO-Verified Rights Owners Program | Counter Notice Letter
Counter Notice (pre-2003) | Counter Notice present | On-Line Survey from 2004 | Articles about VeRO | What To Do If You Are Veroed

Original material by Karen Dudnikov & Michael Meadors is © 1999-2016

 

 

iweb counter