Under US copyright law, one you have purchased the copyrighted item it is yours nuch like any other property. Think of a collection of hard cover books that you have assembled over the years as an example. They are yours to read, use as a doorstop, donate to the library or to sell at a garage sale. The book publisher relinquished control over how the book is used or subsequently disposed of after you no longer want it. What you cannot do with the book is to make copies of it to sell or to give away. Nor can you use the book as the basis for writing a play or making a motion picture based upon the contents of the book.

Embroidery designs and embroidery machines would be treated the same way. The physical patterns and CDs belong to you. Barring a signed written agreement between you and the designer, the designer has no control over how you dispose of your property. The recipient would have the same property rights as though the pattern were purchased by them. The "licenses" unilaterally imposed by the designers have no legal standing.

We have not been able to locate a single federal lawsuit in the last 70 years that has gone to trial on the issue of the use of patterns and items made from those patterns. In 1879 the Supreme Court said a copyright owner has no copyright interest in something made from a pattern. In 1908 the Supreme Court said a that a copyright owner, without a written contract, cannot impose use restrictions on an item by printing restrictions on the item.

Karen & Mike
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