Thank you all for your thoughts and comments. I believe we pretty much agree. In the scenarios I listed, all could be perceived as copyright violations by some designers. Remember than anyone can sue you for anything. Whether they win or not is another story but who wants to get sued, have to hire an attorney and have this hanging over your head. There was a time when you could expect to be sued if you had no car insurance, ran a red light and injured someone but now, you look at someone wrong and you can be sued. Don’t get me started on attorneys! I worked for them for years and there are good ones but I guarantee you that if you went to a lawyer with any issue you have, without having to look very hard, you’re going to find one that is willing to file a lawsuit instead of recommending ways to work things out. Thank goodness for some of the states that have passed laws regarding frivolous lawsuits. It’s the day in which we live.
As quilters, we all need to take a stand!
Please do not do anything that will hurt your local quilt shops. Many of them struggle to make ends meet and we need them. I would suggest that you mention your concerns to them . . concerns about what you can and cannot do with the fabrics they’re selling, or about limitations written on the selvage, and then when they go to market, they can make their concerns know to the manufacturers.
As for what I’m going to do . . I’ve already talked to Gail Kessler at Andover who makes the Dimples that I love and I’ll just stick with them. I will use the fabric on my shelves but from henceforth, when I see a fabric I cannot live without, I will not buy it til I’ve made sure I know exactly how the designer thinks I should or should not use the fabric and you know what will happen by the time I’ve sent emails and waited for responses . . I’ll be out of the mood for the fabric. I don’t need any more anyway!
Claudia Wade says
I totally agree that we shouldn’t do anything to hurt our local quilt shops. Where would we be without them? I do buy fabric sometimes online, but it is never exactly what I expect because colors look different on a computer. So I need my local quilt shop. But I will mention my concerns to the owner of my local quilt shop. Thank you for discussing this. It is helpful to hear what others think too.
Mary says
My husband and I just discussed this, and this is the same two conclusions we came to: A) not buy any copyright fabric (I can do without it) and B) talk to my LQS owner and ask her to pass on my concerns.
Johanna says
I’m glad that I am a nobody and only make things for myself. I don’t really need to worry about this for me at least. For once, I’m happy to be a nobody! 🙂
Angie says
LOL! Me too Johanna! I’m really happy to be a “nobody” in my own little corner of the world!
Doe in Mi says
I’m with Johanna and Angie. I like my little corner too.
bev/mo says
Judy,
This is almost out of control. Everyone is confused and unhappy. We are almost afraid to buy fabric that we love….. one persons greed has created a terrible chain reaction and so many will suffer from loss of sales because many will be not sure if they should buy certain fabric or not…..such a terrible situation …..
Im with you and will begin using my stash more and more….but theres so much gorgeous fabric out there…….
Denise :) says
I’ve been in a cave most all of this past week and had to go back and read the past posts (including Leah Day’s — thank you for providing the link to it). I’m shocked and amazed. And I think I like best your idea of dying your own fabric from here on out! I think perhaps it was for the best that I was in a cave this past week! 🙂
Kate says
Well all the people saying they will never use the designer fabrics they already bought are overreacting. Kate Spain says on her blog that there is no problem with anyone using her fabrics anyway they want to. Make a quilt, sell it, give it, donate it for raffle whatever. The problem was an image of her fabric put on a separate item then sold interationally with no credit to her or with her permission. I think she is totally within her rights to say hey thats my fabric designs on that bag youre selling…
Anyway, CNT publishing has posted details as well as has Kate and if you read those the whole thing gets put into persepctive. They messed up and they admit it.
So the people who say Oh I cant do a blog now, I might get sued for showing the fabrics, or Im never using the fabric on my shelf, thats just creating more drama and unnecessary emotional termoil for yourself.
Dont make a mountain out of a molehill.
Becky G says
I also read the comments on the blogs of folks who were actually involved and immediately felt back on firm ground and am no longer anxious that i might accidentally make a costly mistake by using a designer’s copyrighted design. It did seem that Ms Spain’s attorney over-reached by including the book in the cease & desist order.
I am very careful & never copy patterns that are for sale; if I am going to use it, I buy it. I want to support thise who create!
As i do not publish, i am not at risk.
It is sad that so many folks are so angry, but i can only hope we all become more aware of and respectful of the value of our wonderfully creative artists!
CindyM says
Leah has updated her post, and it has comments she got from the designer… in case anyone is following this ongoing dialogue. Remember when quilters just all shared and got along?
Donna in KS says
….have gone round and round about this due to local Guild quilt show. My thinking has always been that a designer puts her product ‘out there’ in hopes that we will purchase it and when I do, I feel I have the right to do about whatever I wish with it!!!! As to buying any more of anything to go into quilt/sewing room, nothing like a move to emphasize that I for sure do not need to walk into a LQS for a long, long time….not for needles, not for thread, nothing, nothing, nothing that could tempt! Family room at this house is full and my sewing room isn’t empty yet.
Marla says
My DH and I had a long discussion about this subject last night and he brought up a subject I had not seen discussed. As I don’t know the details of what happens when a designer sells her designs to a fabric company like Moda, maybe someone can answer this. When a designer sells her designs to “Moda”, doesn’t Moda have the rights to do with it as it wants to? Or is it set up in individual contacts what the designer keeps the rights of? I am curious about this.
Diane S. says
I’d also like to know a little of what that designer is paid for those designs by the fabric manufacturers. Are we talking a nice, pay-the-mortgage income? More? Less? Anyone know a ballpark figure?
pdudgeon says
i’m sure that local quilt shop owners have heard about this problem, and i have absolutely no doubt that quilt fabric manufacturers are also discussing the issue, because it is economically in all their best interests to do so; especially these days when so many $$’s are invested in each bolt of fabric.
the old saying pertains here–“A word to the wise is sufficient”.
As a result of this incident we are all better informed quilters and fabric buyers.
Now if the fabric designers are the smart people that i think the majority of them are, they will find a way to use this incident to their benefit. They’ll continue to work, design, and write better copywrite laws.
and that would be a good thing!
Shari says
I ran into this dilema years ago when we lived in UT. At that time Debbie Mumm had a “personal use only” tag in her selvedge. I mentioned it to the shop owner and told her that although I loved that particular fabric I made things to sell and I was not going to buy the fabric because of that statement. I was paying retail price and I felt…and still do…that if I paid a good price for itI should be able to use it as I need to use it. I have not purchased anything with DM’s name on it since. She and I both seem to have faired OK. Don’t think I impacted it much, but she no longer has those statements on her fabrics. I do find I have an issue with my older fabrics as many of them are scraps and do not have the selvedges to inspect for guidance.
By the way, my skillbuilder class loved your “right turn, left turn” quilt.. My top is nearly done for a QOV for Alycia. Show you when it’s done. Thanks again.
Cynthia H., El Cerrito, CA says
Judy, I am indebted to you for discussing this situation on your blog. Due to events in my personal life, I hadn’t been reading as widely on the Net as previously and was *completely unaware* of the C&T / Cier / Spain brouhaha. Until yesterday.
Had it occurred last September, or perhaps next month, I would have followed each step breathlessly, unable to imagine how things could be so messed up. As it was, I lived out the entire gamut of emotions all in one evening, as I read all the blogs, viewed the 16-minute video you linked to (thank you very much for that one as well), and read linked posts into the bargain.
I was on a quilt-show committee–our show was March 17/18–and will probably be on the 2014 show committee as well. Maybe these situations will have stabilized by then. I sincerely hope so.