I take your point on-board, but catalogues, and pattern-books, are very different things. Catalogues are produced as a marketing aid, and tend not to have serious copyright issues attached. Company pattern books are arguably not produced to aid marketing, and copyright issues can be very complex.
I know of at least one UK manufacturer (which no longer exists), whose pattern books, now belong to another company, which would never consider allowing anyone to publish the pattern books, in any manner, which would undermine that company's image. Knowing the holding company, any publication of the pattern books would have to be on high quality gloss/art paper. A pain for the knowledge base, but that company spends prolific amounts of money protecting both its image, and brands.
Regards,
Le Casson