(link removed) Given comments made later in the thread.
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Thank you very much, @alex.farlie. I was just browsing through this PDF⌠It has some amazing information in it.
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Itâs a shame itâs too recent, to use it as a basis for âpre-suppliedâ blocks. There is a need for an open-source drafting system, to go with the Seamly program, as most existing published systems with a fit contemporary with 21st century sizing are still under copyright.
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It is an interesting text and I know colleagues who have copies of it. Great period styling details! Interesting that it is developed with only the waist dart rather than a shoulder dart, or a combination of darting.
I think one issue with all the Pattern making systems/books/drafts is they are based on what was/is considered standard sizing and proportions of their time.
Most of them are great in and of themselves, but what I find lacking for people trying to learn is the lack of explanation of how the draft works. Iâd say the system that comes closest to demonstrating the why and how is Guido Hofenbitzerâs drafting system.
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Given the origins of the publication, I am thinking that the users of it would know enough to be able to add their own alternative dart points.
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I found, at a quick glance through, that the method is very similar to Helen Joseph-Armstrong, and a few others, where the centre waist to shoulder tip measurement is used to determine the slope of the shoulder. If you would like a shoulder dart, you can always slash & spread a portion of the waist dart to there.
Also in my quick glance, I saw a section that very well explains the dimensions from the model to the pattern piece, making it very visually understable.
Iâm really not bothered with the measurements in the book because they also explain, very well, how to take your own measurements and Seamly2D, being what it is, will resize the pattern according to whatever measurement file you load. So you can use more recent measurements and still get a very perfect pattern.
What reall struck me about the book is the multitude of design that one can achieve but slashing and spreading, joining and adding gussets. These are aften only touched on in other systems or you need to buy the next book and the one after that. Here you have a multitude of options, so your creativity can run wild 
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Apologies to post on an old thread, but based on some new information, I am not sure the data and status IA gave this is accurate. Iâve found a late 30âs editon, mid 50âs edtion and a clearly in copyright edition of the late 1960âs all attibuted to a Mayer Rohr, and not the author given at Internet Archive.
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Not sure what you mean? Clearly the original link you provided attributes the book to M Rohr.
BTW⌠I must have missed this 1st time around:
Pattern systems can not be copyrighted. They are instructions - like (food) recipes. Copyright law protects the specific way an idea is expressed, but not the idea itself. What can be copyrighted as far as recipes goes is a book, text, pictures, videos, audio recordings or diagrams describing your experienences and way to make the recipe, but not the recipe itself. Itâs why companies like Coke keep the recipe a secret - otherwise if they tried to protect the recipe with a copyright it has to be published, and then anyone could use the recipe.
That being said⌠one is free to use any pattern system regardless of the copyright date - as long as they donât use the copyrighted text, pictures, drawings, etc from a book. Not to mentiion that from my experience you generally canât just follow a pattern making system precisely as drafting on the computer can be different than drafting on paper. Often in Seamly you may have to use a couple tools to accomplish a task, where other times youâre just kinda making it up where a book will just give some vaugue instruction - like âfinish the botton front of the vestâŚâ
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IA titles this as by âMichaelâ, all the other editions are by âMayerâ, and whilst I canât find renewals for this, there is a much later edition from 1968 which would still be in copyright,(and not in the public domain as this upload presumably in good faith thinks this edition is.)
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Your point on pattern systems is fair, but I was being cautious, given that there had been concerns in the past about just how much of âdesignâ you could use. Clearly though Pattern systems are intended to be used 
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Ah⌠Ok. Most all the covers I see of his books are M. Rohr⌠I can the reason for a mixup since the 1st name âMayerâ is not common.
Generally you can not copyright the design of a garment itself, meaning you canât prevent others from creating similar-looking clothing. However, you can protect specific elements of your design, such as logos or unique patterns, through trademark or by creating and protecting original sketches.
Iâll give you an example⌠as someone who owned a costume shop for 42+ years where copyrights / trademarks were always an issue. For ex: We could rent a black and white fur dog costume, but if that dog costume looked like Snoopy there could be an issue with the Shultz people. Ask me how I know. 
There was a period when almost every costume shop in the country got sued for a certain âPurple Dinosaurâ. Not us. On the other hand if I drafted a double breasted suit and made it in black wool, there is no problem in renting it as it does not infringe on any copyright or trademark. If I stuck a tag in the suit that says âHugo Bossâ⌠thatâs an issue.
In reality what it comes down to is who has deep pockets. Suing someone over copyright / trademark or being sued is an expensive proposition, and itâs always a risk / benfit decision for the owner. If youâre Queen you can afford to sue Vaniilla Ice.
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Thank you. Exactly the measured response I expected
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I thought all the Rohr books were by Michael. I didnât even know there was a Mayer.
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This is why its sometimes useful to check biblographic catalogs⌠It can also sometimes pull up new information.
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Hi @Alex! Nice to hear from you!
M. Rohr is Michael, and his family does go after copyright violations, as happened several years aho on a Threads article. The diagonal shoulder tip to waist meadurement is used by Knowles, Pivnick, and others, but Rohrâs concise instructions make his book a cut above eveyone elseâs.
@grace and I have been working on the areas that these systems leave as manual adjustments, e.g sleeves, bust, and abdomen. Hopefully weâll get get out the Seamly Guide to Perfect Fit soon!
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Actually thatâs part of the Copyright law⌠you have to âactively protectâ your copyright, or else you may lose it to the public domain.
That being said⌠Michael is Mayerâs grandson⌠who owns the copyrights, but is not the author.
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Well thank you the confirmation, Looks like I was correct to be concerned. The best option if they want to preserve the legacy, the best option would be for them to formally ârelaseâ the older versions directly. I would strongly suggest the older version were formally considered for release under some kind of âCreative Commonsâ license, (NOT the 1968 though, as that has active US copyrights.).
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Ok, Iâve hidden the original link in this post, although I did follow the link to the Internet Archive and it is still available on there despite everything that IA have been through in the past year or so.
Agreed. Like you said given what IA has had to deal with over the past year I doubt the book would still be listed if it was an issue. I even tried to seach the US Copyright office and found nothing. IA has the 1961 Book listed under Open Source - Creative Commons license.
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Did you check all 3 catalogs (and for that matter the CCE volumes hosted variously by Hathi/Google/IA)?
IA hosts a lot of items which it hasnât checked, and so I wouldnât treat the existence of anything with a post 1930 date as definitive of status. Calling it âOpen Sourceâ would be wrong, calling it Creative Commons, misunderstands what that licensing scheme is ( and I am wondering if some things at IA end up with the tag as âdefaultâ in errors when volunteers upload stuff.)⌠IA also as it allows volunteers to add items themselves, will to some extent inadvertently include items (in good faith) where the uploader isnât perhaps as aware of how to fully check a status. I also get the impression, that unlike other more conventional libaries, the sheer quantity of archived material, means they havenât been able to do the more formalised status checking on every single item ( This is part of why some of the projects IA has undertaken has been contentious.) Unlike some other institutions which are a lot slower to release âexpiredâ material, IA might not be doing the sort of status checks you might expect, waiting until it gets the takedown requests. (Which is part of why they got into trouble with publishers.).
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