I am not an attorney, and an attorney is better qualified to
advise you on this matter. Copyrights, trademarks, and trade
names are member IAAL's area of expertise.
I believe you are right, you can copyright and sell your patterns,
for dolls which (1) are not copyrighted, and (2) have no trade
name and/or trade mark. But to go even further, you can
copyright and sell your patterns for copyrighted dolls with/without
a trademark/name, provided your advertisements/labels/etc do
not refer to their trademark or trade name.
For example, I don't think you are doing anything illegal
if you sold doll patterns/clothing at a flea market, and you
had a sign that said:
"Please ask ..... I have patterns/clothes for several dolls
with trademarks."
But, you would be required to disclose you are not affiliated/
associated with the companies who have copyrights and/or
trademarks for the dolls. As a matter of precaution, each
buying customer should sign a statement to that effect.
I could be wrong about what I just said, because of the
right to derivatives to a copyright, but I can't imagine the
courts would consider an article of clothing as being a doll,
plus the fact your patterns/clothes could possibly fit other
dolls, which may or may not be copyrighted. The following
is the definition of derivative work" from "Copyright
Law of the United Stated of America":
A "derivative work" is a work based upon one or more preexisting
works, such as a translation, musical arrangement,
dramatization, fictionalization, motion picture version, sound
recording, art reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any
other form in which a work may be recast, transformed, or
adapted. A work consisting of editorial revisions, annotations,
elaborations, or other modifications, which, as a whole, represent
an original work of authorship, is a "derivative work".
Are there sizes for craft dolls like there are sizes for humans?
(Let us know.) If yes, then the matter of "derivative work"
should not even come into play, unless a copyrighted doll is a
size/shape unique unto itself; e.g., four arms.
Citizen Brown
Disclaimer: This response is not from an attorney, and
anything/everything in this repsonse may be erroneous.
