Copyright law handmade items

With digital scanning and fabric printing technology, someone could copy the protected design onto blank fabric.
Copyright law prohibits this type of reproduction.
Using copyrighted fabric to make clothing, household goods and craft items for your personal use is clearly permissible under copyright law.

There’s no doubt that copyright law applies to crafting patterns (as long as they’re original works and provided in a tangible form, like a PDF or in print).
There’s also no doubt that the copyright law entitles the owner of a pattern to control how their pattern is distributed — who can sell it, where they can sell it and for how long.

Fabric manufacturers imprint many textiles with the copyright symbol on the selvage edge of the fabric along with the manufacturer's name to put the world on notice that their designs are protected by U.S. copyright law.
These symbols can be confusing when someone wants to make -- and perhaps sell -- items using copyrighted fabric.

The copyright holder has the right to decide whether to post the pattern as a free download on their website and still retain the right to prevent others from giving it away or selling it.
They have the right to bring legal action against someone else who copies and sells or gives away their copyrighted pattern without permission.