TnBecky

Made from collegiate fabric. I just finished a University of TN quilt for a friend & a friend her hers wants to pay me to make her one. If it is illegal I guess I could have her buy the material & then I could charge for my labor. If anyone has any answers please let me know. Thanks.

ManiacQuilter2

I think where your are thinking is with the selling of a completed quilt using copyrighted fabric. I would have her buy the fabric and then be sure to tell her how much you will charge her for making it into a quilt.

Cari-in-Oly

I make purses and other items to sell with copyrighted sports fabric. I've gotten into more than one discussion and even arguments over whether what I do is legal. Yes, it is legal. This went all the way to the Supreme Court and here is a portion of the ruling:
the "first sale doctrine" upheld in the court ruling of Quality King Distributors, Inc. v. 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."

In other words, once you buy the fabric, it is yours to do what you wish with it.

Cari

TnBecky

Thanks Cari, now I can carry on with ordering the fabric & making the quilt.

katesnanna

Well put Cari-in-Oly. This is crystal clear and should end any arguments. It's also what I've always believed, that once I buy the fabric it's mine to do with it what I please.

Cari-in-Oly

My favorite LQS knows what I do and they always know what's up when I'm buying more sports fabric but we don't talk about it openly because their distributor has threatened to pull the fabrics if the QS is selling fabrics to people like me who sell items made with these fabrics. The distributor can't legally stop me from selling my stuff but they can stop selling the fabric to the shop. It's wrong all the way around.

Cari

NJ Quilter

Hard to believe the distributor has any say at all what the shop and/or the end user does with the fabric. While I understand and agree with the court decision you posted previously, I could understand the manufacturer having a 'say' (although, obviously per the court decision they don't), I don't get how the distributor thinks they have any rights.

Not trying to start a major discussion here, just my opinion.

TnBecky

You would think they would be flattered by what people make with their fabric, it usually means more sales.

suern3

It still creates a market for their licensed fabric either way, it seems to me. I would guess if they were selling to wholesalers to mass produce items with the fabric, they would expect to get lower prices for their fabric. Just an idea

Jeanette Frantz

I agree wholeheartedly with the Supreme Court decision -- if you buy fabric and create something from that fabric, it is your creation, not someone else's. Once it has entered the stream of commerce, the fabric belongs to whomever purchases it! It's rather like the Razorback Quilt I made -- I started with, yes, a computer-printed mascot of the University of Arkansas. But what I did then was re-draw, enlarge, redraw some more and more, so that what started as a 3"inch print became more than 30 inches across (I actually didn't measure it, but I know it was more than 30 inches. Here's my exemption -- the quilt I made was a one-time thing, made as a wedding gift to my dear nephew and his bride, and I really don't want to do another one! LOL! Good luck with your quilt!

Jeanette