Question about purchasing e-copies of Big Company patterns...

[megtrip83]

I'm not sure if I am asking this in the correct place so please feel free to move this or even delete if it's not allowed here.

I was searching for doll clothing patterns and came across this Etsy shop:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/dollpatternboutique

I notice that she is selling copies of big brand companies patterns (Vogue, Simplicity...). Is this legal? I see several that I would love to purchase from her but I am worried about potential copyright infringement issues. I did send her a message to ask about this but have not gotten a response (this was about a week ago). Should I be reporting this shop or do people actually have legal rights to sell copies of patterns like this? I'm confused because as far as I know patterns are copyright protected against reselling copies like this. Any advise?


***EDIT*** I just checked this particular sellers feedback and she is at 66%. I guess I will be reporting, anyone else that can report too probably should...

[steiconi]

She may have a legal agreement with the pattern companies.

Why do you want to report her?  Is she harming you? 
It might be better Karma if you just don't buy from her.

[jungrrl]

She may have a legal agreement with the pattern companies.

It's pretty doubtful that that's the case.

Why do you want to report her?  Is she harming you? 
It might be better Karma if you just don't buy from her.

Just because something isn't harming you personally doesn't mean it should be allowed. Sites (and in this case, the government, as she seems to be breaking copyright) have rules for a reason and maintaining a level playing field is to the benefit of everyone. I always report people breaking the rules on Etsy, just like I encourage people to report those who break the rules on Craftster. When I get those reports I don't care who made them, I just appreciate them being brought to our attention.

[MareMare]

She may have a legal agreement with the pattern companies.

Why do you want to report her?  Is she harming you? 
It might be better Karma if you just don't buy from her.

I don't think it's right to let illegal activity go just because it's not harming you. THat sounds like a downward spiral for society. What about people's creative rights? Isn't it harming the original designer to lose revenue? And encouraging people to devalue others' crafty ideas and copyrights? That could harm all of us.

In general I report illegal activity whenever I see it, I see lots of people posting on ebay in ways that makes them avoid selling fees. That's not ok, when I sell on ebay I post correctly and pay the correct fees.

[Aislynn]

Yeah, it looks like they're vintage patterns that she scanned.  Because they're vintage, they'll be harder to find, which may be why she's scanning them and selling copies, so that they can be more widely distributed (plus she's making significantly more money).  However, it's really not an ethical practice, unless she's got permission from the original company, or they've let the copyrights expire on those patterns.  And I'm not sure how copyright law works with patterns...

[CraftyChef]

Some of those don't look old enough to be public domain. She's in it for the buck, clearly, and doesn't care. She didn't answer your convo because she doesn't care to. You can report her to etsy, but unless it's the copyright holder making the claim, etsy is also in it for the buck and probably won't do anything. Yes, I drip with cynicism.