This section of the forum is for discussing the business and finance issues of the t-shirt industry. Which business structure to use (sole proprietor, LLC, S Corp, etc), how to handle billing, where to register your business and get the proper licensing, etc.
Hey guys, I've been doing my homework on trademark and copyright law and it seems that T-shirt designs fall into a weird gray area. A copyright protects an original work of visual art, but it's geared more toward the kind of visual art like a painting or a photograph. A t-shirt idea, or the joke or premise on which it is based, doesn't fall into this category though, and in a lot of cases the "joke" is what sells the shirt, not the design itself. And a trademark is a ***** to get, and it can protect a slogan only if you can prove that it distinguishes your brand from others, but not just a slogan on shirt, in most cases.
So doesn't that mean that if I have a design, and I copyright it, a person can still take the general idea or joke, change the font and illustration, and be perfectly fine legally because I have no claim to the joke itself?
I guess this doesn't really bother me, I know that I'll never intentionally rip anyone off, and that I'm creative enough to stay ahead of would-be copycats, but I'm curious if my basic legal assessment here is right. Anyone have any experience with this? Or has anyone here ever been accused of ripping of an idea that they came up with independently?
Re: The Shortcomings of TMs and Copyrights for shirts
Hey Sam, it sounds like you've definitely done your research.
Quote:
So doesn't that mean that if I have a design, and I copyright it, a person can still take the general idea or joke, change the font and illustration, and be perfectly fine legally because I have no claim to the joke itself?
Unfortunately, that's something that lawyers would have to decide.
Re: The Shortcomings of TMs and Copyrights for shirts
I think you're pretty much right. A trademark is like a logo or design that represents a company or brand. A copyright is more for the printed word and original art. It can also represent an original idea. My brother does game design and knows these things better than I do. He once told me that it really doesn't help that much to trademark as it is expensive and you only have to change things about 10% to get around it. Copyright is a little better, but if someone wants to rip you off, unless it is megabucks, or if you are like Disney or some other corporate monster with nothing better to do than sue people, it usually isn't worth the hassle. If you do want to scare someone into stopping the rip-off, usually an email telling them that they are infringing on copyrights and that if they do not cease, you will file an injunction and sue them. That usually scares most folks straight.
The Shortcomings of TMs and Copyrights for shirts 
