Trademark and Embroidery: What to know before you sell that design!
Embroidery is a booming business, with countless crafters selling custom designs on clothing, accessories, and home decor. However, many embroiderers unknowingly violate trademark laws, putting themselves at risk of legal trouble. Before you sell that design, here’s what you need to know about trademarks and embroidery.
1. Selling Embroidery Designs Without a License Is Risky
Many people create and sell embroidery designs featuring characters, logos, and symbols they do not have the legal right to use. This is a major issue because some companies are extremely aggressive about protecting their intellectual property. For example:
- Disney is well-known for cracking down on unauthorized use of its characters. Even if you create a design from scratch, if it closely resembles Mickey Mouse, you could receive a cease-and-desist letter.
- Harley-Davidson actively protects its logo and branding, often taking legal action against unauthorized sellers.
- Sports teams, luxury brands, and entertainment franchises also monitor online marketplaces and issue takedown notices for trademark violations.
If you sell designs based on trademarked content without permission, you risk lawsuits, fines, and having your shop shut down on platforms like Etsy and Shopify.
2. Buying Official Designs Doesn’t Mean You Can Sell the Items you have embroidered!
Even if you purchase an official embroidery file from a brand, this does not automatically give you the right to sell items made with it. Many official designs come with a personal-use license only, meaning:
- You can use the design for your own projects.
- You cannot sell products featuring the design unless you obtain a separate commercial license.

Before assuming you can sell items with an official design, read the licensing terms carefully. Some companies offer limited commercial licenses for small businesses, but you must apply and pay for the rights.
3. Other Important Considerations for Selling Embroidered Items
- Fan art is not a loophole. If your design is recognizable as a copyrighted or trademarked character, it can still be considered infringement.
- Parodies and transformative works have some legal protection under fair use, but these laws are complex and depend on context. When in doubt, consult a lawyer.
- Digitizing logos for customers can be risky. Even if a customer asks you to embroider a corporate logo for them, you may be violating the company’s intellectual property unless they provide written permission.
4. Public Domain and the Grey Area of Recognizable Characters
There is a bit of a grey area when it comes to public domain works. Some recognizable characters can be used and sold because their original versions are now in the public domain.
Examples include:
- Disney’s Oswald the Lucky Rabbit – A character now in the public domain.
- Winnie the Pooh (Original A.A. Milne Version) – The original illustration is public domain, but Disney’s red-shirt version remains trademarked.
- Alice in Wonderland (The original book characters)

It’s important to be very careful when using public domain characters because many of them have later versions that are still protected.
For example, Disney has recently tried to revive Oswald, and that means the newer version of him, which is wearing blue shorts, is NOT considered public domain.
In short, if you plan to use a public domain design, ensure that you are only using the original version and not a later trademarked adaptation.
5. Where to Find Commercially Licensed Embroidery Designs
The safest way to sell embroidered items legally is to use designs that come with a full commercial license. One of the best sources for these designs is Creative Fabrica.
- Every embroidery design on Creative Fabrica comes with a commercial license, meaning you can safely use them on products for sale.
- They offer thousands of unique, high-quality designs, including fonts, monograms, and decorative motifs.
- Purchasing designs from a reputable site ensures you avoid copyright issues and focus on growing your business without legal risks.
I personally love Creative Fabrica, because they have SO many designs (87,000+ at the time of writing) that you can download for a single subscription. Every single design also comes with a commercial license too, so you can sell embroidered items in your store without worry.
You can check out their embroidery design selection here.

Barb, our resident quilter and embroidery aficionado, weaves a thread of creativity through our collection. Serving as the curator of machine embroidery content, Barb infuses each design with a touch of her artistic expertise. The free embroidery patterns you discover on our site often bear the mark of Barb’s craftsmanship. Let’s get crafting!