When & when not does botanical copyright apply?

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2QandLearn Menifee, CA(Zone 9a) Aug 31, 2011

If you buy / own & grow a hybrid plant, is it automatically under copy-right, so that you aren't allowed to propagate it even for personal use? Or, to give some away?

What about if it is definitely claimed to be under copy-right?

Does it make any difference if it is --or is not-- copy-righted in the legal sense?

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themoonhowl Prairieville, LA(Zone 9a) Aug 31, 2011

Here is a bit of info for you.

http://www.plantdelights.com/Trademarks-in-Horticulture/products/534/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultivar

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Aug 31, 2011

I think you may mean patented, not copyrighted? Not all hybrids are patented. The ones that are will say something about it on the label that comes with the plant when you buy it. It'll either list the patent number (if the patent is approved) or say PPAF (Plant patent applied for) and have a statement warning about how asexual propagation is prohibited. If a plant is patented, you are not allowed to reproduce it asexually (cuttings, etc) even for personal use. You could still grow plants from seeds you collect though since the seeds aren't genetically identical to the parent they are not covered by the patent...seeds are not asexual propgation.

Plants can also have trademarked names but unless the plant itself is also patented you can reproduce them to your heart's content, you just can't sell it under the trademarked name (but you could sell it using its real cultivar name rather than the trademark name, and you can certainly take cuttings for personal use, to give away, etc)

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