How long is a copyright valid on a sewing pattern, for example a
pattern originally published by the Butterick firm in 1913?  Can I
make copies of this item to sell if the original copyright has
expired?

Hi fyv,

Yes, you are free to copy and sell any pattern originally copyrighted
before 1923 in the United States.

Here's a handy chart. It doesn't really matter if you're talking about
a book, illustration, or pattern, the law is the same.

WORKS PUBLISHED IN THE US
Date of Publication:  Before 1923
Conditions: None
Copyright Term: In the public domain 
http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/Hirtle_Public_Domain.htm

COPYRIGHT FACTS FOR CRAFTERS & QUILTERS
"In the year, 2000, anything copyrighted before 1923 enters the Public
Domain this year."
http://www.sew-whats-new.com/copyright.shtml

"Just FYI - A person can't rewrite the instructions to a pattern that
is currently under copyright protection and then legally claim any
copyright of their own to their rewritten instructions. If a pattern
(copyright before the year 1923) has fallen into the public domain,
then new copyright can be applied to variations of (also called
derivitive works of) that public domain pattern."
http://crochet.about.com/library/n011103.htm 

"Can you "share" copies of patterns (this includes scanning,
photocopies, emailing, posting to Bulletin Boards, any manner
whatsoever)? "
"The answer is YES if the pattern is no longer under copyright
protection or if it is your own original pattern (by law, only the
designer has the right to decide how his/her patterns are
distributed.)"
Expired Copyright -
"Statutory copyright period has expired on works first published in
the United States before the year 1923, placing these in the public
domain, so it's ok to make copies of those works."
http://crochet.about.com/library/blcopyrightguide.htm

Additional Link of Interest

Copyright Quiz
http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Workshops/copyquiz.html

I hope this helps. If you have any questions, please post a
clarification request and wait for me to respond before closing/rating
my answer.

Thank you,
hummer

Google Search Terms Used:

copyright public domain sewing patterns

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Request for Answer Clarification by fyv-ga on 28 Aug 2005 16:04 PDT

Hi,

Does this mean that next year 1924 and previous is in the public
domain or is itfrozen at 1923?

Thanks!

---

Clarification of Answer by hummer-ga on 28 Aug 2005 16:53 PDT

Hi fyv,

That's a good question and the answer is "no". Here's another handy chart:

1918: 1922
1919: 1923
1920: 1924
http://www.librarylaw.com/DigitizationTable.htm

1922 FREEZE: The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act added twenty
years to copyright terms. Public Law 105-298, 112 Stat. 2827 (1998).
This explains why works published after 1922 are "frozen" until 2019.
Works published in 1922 and earlier had already gone into the public
domain at that time the law went into effect in 1998. This Act was
upheld by the Supreme Court  in Eldred v Ashcroft, 537 U.S. 186 (2003)
at http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/02pdf/01-618.pdf . For more
information see http://eldred.cc/
http://www.librarylaw.com/DigitizationTable.htm

Regards,
hummer

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Clarification of Answer by hummer-ga on 29 Aug 2005 19:19 PDT

Dear fyv,

Thank you for the tip! I see that I didn't quite answer your question,
"Does this mean that next year 1924 and previous is in the public
domain or is it frozen at 1923?" correctly. I should've said, "no,
it's frozen until 1919".

Sincerely,
hummer

Copyright is not that simple. Many works published after 1923 
were already in the public domain when the 20 year extension 
was added because the original copyright was not renewed. I'd 
think most sewing patterns fall in that category, though that 
is just a guess.

Also, the answer assumes you are asking about US copyright, 
the copyright laws differ in other countries.

Hi ajmorris,

Thank you for your comment. You are correct, copyright isn't simple
and that's why I posted the links that I did. If you have a look at
the first chart in my answer (Cornell), you'll see that it is all
nicely explained, including international law.

The fact remains, everything published before 1923 is in the public
domain and that won't change until 1919. For works published after
1922, research is needed on a case-by-case basis.

Thanks again for being there and for participating in GA,
hummer