Stencil Copyright Question

[Kaitlin]

Thanks for the vote of confidence,  but alas, not much light from here.   
My gut feeling is that, heck, what's a stencil for if not to be used?  And wouldn't they be intended to be used commercially? 

I assume there is law somewhere to back that up.  I did try a quick search that was supposed to cover all copyright infringement cases, but came up with zilch for any mentioning stencil.  Even Nimmer only seems to only mention stencils in the context of mask works.  So I would guess no stencil manufacturer has been so unreasonable as to -- literally-- make a Federal Case of it. 

Where are our copyright mavens in all this discussion?

[IwroteIt]

I must confess I start getting a headache when I read this - so essentially all those craft stores selling stencils, stamps, cut outs, etc etc should in fact tell all their customers that they can't use most if not all those items to create homemade items for resale - any quick walk around any craft market will reveal countless items from cards to art to tea towels made using commercial stencils/stamps/cutouts etc.

Which leads me to believe that while there may be copyright infringement in the creation of these items - the manufacturers are not going to be haunting craft markets for people to sue which begs the question - where is the line drawn then?

I was actually trying to get at this question in another post I made regarding using Photoshop or similar program to create art from a photo.

If you buy a stamp or stencil from a craft shop and use it to create a new work of art - or to decorate a tea towel you hand sewed or to decoupage a box (would buying the blank box from a craft store also constitute 'copyright infringement' then if you bought it to resell after decorating?) there must be a point at which it stops being derivative/a copy/whatever and becomes original to you. I mean you take the stamp and put it in ink of your choosing (hey maybe even the ink people can get upset if you use the colours in the same order as in the box? And yes I am being a bit sarcastic), place it on the card/item in question in a place of your choosing, you even decide how hard to press, you write a phrase or greeting to go with it, maybe even use another stamp or glue some items onto it as well .... can the manufacturers who jolly well know their things are going to be used in this way (in fact INTEND for them to be used like this) really object?

If an artist (which I know they do) takes a photo of some landmark and uses it in their painting but it is still clearly recognisable - are they guilty of some contravention of something?

It maybe an ongoing process to define where those lines are but there must be some guidelines as to where the lines are?

[Smokin]

I must confess I start getting a headache when I read this - so essentially all those craft stores selling stencils, stamps, cut outs, etc etc should in fact tell all their customers that they can't use most if not all those items to create homemade items for resale - any quick walk around any craft market will reveal countless items from cards to art to tea towels made using commercial stencils/stamps/cutouts etc.

Stamps, cutouts, and stencils are all clearly items that receive copyright protection. A quick walk around of micheals or similar stores will actually reveal that most of these items using stencils or stamps, or images/cutouts, usually uses stuff from the public domain.

Which leads me to believe that while there may be copyright infringement in the creation of these items - the manufacturers are not going to be haunting craft markets for people to sue which begs the question - where is the line drawn then?

That's a pretty fair assessment. Companies will usually only go after where the real money is, so if you aren't making a fortune then its pretty unlikely you'll get any lawsuit. Still, its wise to consider all the possibilities no matter how unlikely. I know of some artists that don't really make money off their art, they make their money off of looking for infringement cases. If you are an artist, it is wise to learn about where the black and white answers are in copyrights, and get a feel for the grey area.