When making your own greeting cards to sell, are we allowed to use store bought stickers, etc., on them?

Question

For example, when people make scrapbook pages and sell them (home-made ones), they use stamps and embellishments and pretty much all the supplies they use are store bought. And when they sell them online or personally, they make profit because they made it themselves and it was their design. Does this apply to greeting cards as well? I know a lot of people get cards printed, that's fine, but if we were to use some stickers we bought from the stores on our cards to make them look better or add some flare, is that okay or do we need special permission from the companies?

Isn't it the same thing as buying ribbons and fabrics and sewing clothes for profit? People buy ribbons and charms to decorate scrapbooks and greeting cards and sell them on the web all the time. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, and maybe they haven't been caught yet...but what are the limits and to what extent can we go? If I was to design greeting cards and I had a business of my own (copyrighted), I'm not saying everything I used to make the card is mine, I'm just saying that the design and the actual compilation of the card is mine. Otherwise wouldn't we have to go the extent and produce our own paper and Ink, etc? I'm so confused. I want to move forward with this idea, but I don't want to cause any legal trouble or get embarassed. I just want to let others enjoy my ideas and work! Any idea as in how I would find out what is allowed and what isn't?

Answer 1

A lot of manufacturers have an "angel policy" which allows you to sell something made from their products - usually they're okay with it up to a certain quantity. You'd have to go to each manufacturer and find out what their policy is - it should be posted online.
Unless you're making mass quantities you're probably okay.

Answer 2

It depends on the company and the designer. Some companies consider such to be fair use as long as you don't *copy* the stuff and wish you good fortune with your endeavor. Others limit implied license for use to the original purchaser only, prohibiting resale in modified form. So, save yourself hasseling and possible embarassment by requesting permission for use in the desired manner.

In any case, copyright'd material needs to have the copyright notice. Otherwise purchasers will presume either that the material isn't copyright'd or that you are totally the designer. If a sheet of stickers is packaged as copyright "Whozit" ... anything derived from it needs the notice relative to the particular parts.

Answer 3

They're copyrighted so you can't legally sell them, though you probably won't be caught. Morally, we don't want to be assembling store bought parts and calling it our own work.
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