An Introduction to Licensing III Embroidery Project

Another everyday encounter with licensing for embroiderers is stock designs. Contrary to popular belief, when you purchase a stock embroidery design you don’t own it. Rather you are purchasing a license to reproduce that design through your normal everyday activities. (It pays to read those license agreements.) You can typically sew the design as much as you like, you just can’t sell, trade, loan, or swap the original design itself, since you don’t technically own it. If you plan to sell your business and include your stock design collection, be sure to contact that stock design company from which you purchased the designs in order to transfer the license to the new business owner. Failure to do so could lead to legal problems down the road.

Licensing is a big business. Take the time to learn more and understand it. If a customer brings you something to sew and you are unclear as to whether it’s okay for you to handle the job, simply ask the customer to provide you with a letter of authorization. In many cases the customer thinks they have automatic authorization by virtue of association, which may not be true. For example, a Chevrolet dealer has the right to have certain Chevrolet logos reproduced for the purposes of promoting his business. But he doesn’t necessarily have automatic rights to use such logos and/or phrases as: Corvette, Camaro, Heartbeat of America, etc. Typically he is provided with a media kit which contains the specific logos that he has permission to use. Anything beyond that will require additional authorization, which may not be granted.

Failure to play by the rules can result in painful legal litigation. For you as a business owner, I suggest you adopt a very simple philosophy in regards to potential trademark and copyright situations: “When in doubt, lay out”. In other words, if the customer can’t provide satisfactory authorization, then don’t do the job. It could cost you more than you realize.

NOTE: The author is not an attorney. This article was created using information obtained through the US Patent & Trademark Office, The US Copyright Office and a copyright attorney. It was intended to be general in nature and no legal decisions should be made based on the content. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney.