R
Richard Howe
Guest
we are a mother daughter craft business located in ohio and have been doing local craft shows for 8 years. in past years we have sold ceramics and floral arrangments. hand painted and hand crafted. last year we began making wood crafts using patterns from published/copyrighted books and added them to our inventory. this year we would like to sell our hand crafted/painted items on "craft mall" websites. we show and sell online and are hosted by the craftmall site. the copyright in the wood pattern books state that the "designs in this book are protected by copyright; however, you may make the designs for your personal use or to sell for pin money". or the patterns may be traced and handpainted for "fun or personal profit." other books claim "business or commercial use of any part of this publication is prohibited. patterns and instructions are intended for fun or profit." does this mean that we cannot cut out patterns, paint them, show them at the craftmall site and sell them? or does this mean that we cannot reproduce the pattern and sell the pattern? If the author sees one of their creations being sold online can we be sued for copyright violations? some say that items cannot be mass produced. how many items can be made before it is considered mass produced? is this type of business considered retail sales? We are a small business interested in putting 5-10 items up for sale at a time. any help or advise would be appreciated. thanks to all who respond.