Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Massachusetts

Re: Copyrights on Knitting/Sewing patterns

Read the small print all over the package. You may be limited in the scope of your license to create, simply because the article of clothing may itself be copyrighted as an expression. You are clearly licensed to make and wear the clothing. An owner of the pattern is also certainly licensed to have someone else do the sewing for him or her as a contractor. If you have any doubt, you can always buy a copy of the pattern for each and every version of the article you make, add it to the cost, and sell the article with the pattern.

You may want to go to the websites of the pattern-publishers and see if they address your question. You can also e-mail them. An ounce of "May I" can avoid a ton of "We're suing you."

Re: Copyrights on Knitting/Sewing patterns

Unless there is a prohibition printed on the packaging of the pattern, permission to create items would be implied, whether or not the items were for subsequent sale.

Best wishes,

LDWG