• Embroidery designs are copyrighted material.embroidery image by Inger Anne Hulb?|kdal from Fotolia.com
  
  Embroidery designs are protected under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. Under this act, any creative work is protected by copyright laws at the moment of creation, regardless of whether the creator officially registers the work with the copyright office. Copyright of designs lasts 50 years beyond the original creator's death. Design creators can sue in federal court if their designs are copied without permission; in addition, it is a felony to sell designs that do not belong to you.
  
  

Buyer's Responsibilities

• A person buying embroidery designs is responsible for ensuring those designs have not been stolen or copied. Buyers can be prosecuted for purchasing counterfeit or pirated designs, even if they were not aware of the copyright violation at the time of purchase.
  
  Copied material is often sold over the Internet at vastly reduced prices, such as $5.00 for over 1,000 designs. If a price is too good to be true, the material is likely not original.
  
  If a buyer suspects she has purchased copied material, she can surrender it to the Embroidery Software Protection Coalition for $200 and obtain permission to use it.
  
  

Copyright Limits

• Embroidery designs and computer software used to make them are both copyrighted by the designer or programmer at the time of creation. However, products made using a purchased design belong to the person who made the object, not the creator of the design. Designers cannot legally demand any part of money made from selling embroidered projects, even if they designed the pattern used to make the project.
  
  

Copyright and Free Items

• All designs are copyrighted under U.S. law when they are created, regardless of whether the designer chooses to sell them or give them away for free. Similarly, copying someone else's design is a violation of their copyright even if you give away the copies rather than selling them.
  
  

Penalties for Copyright Infringement

• If you buy, sell or give away material for which you do not own the copyright, penalties can be severe. Copyright owners are legally entitled to up to $150,000 in damages per stolen item. If you copy design software rather than designs, you can be fined up to $250,000 and be sentenced to up to six years in jail.