Hi I got told to day by SNB-REACT Europe that I can not draw a picture of a Honda Motorcycle and print it on to t shirts, in fact they have removed the Honda shirts that I sell on Ebay. They tell me that to make a drawing of one of their bikes was breaking copyright laws even if I remove the drawn logos that are on the bike and any reference to honda from the design. I have asked what sections of the laws they are refering to but still await an answer. All my artwork will be based on actual sketches that I have done and I want to know is there any way I can print and sell them. Does any one have any experience of this happening to them?
thanks Greg
Honda owns the copyrights and trademarks to their products and logos. This is commonly referred to as Intellectual Property. You are infringing on their registrations by trying to profit off their intellectual property without license or permission. Unless you negotiate a licensing agreement with Honda, there is no way to print them and sell them without the risk of being sued.
Hi I understand I can not use their logo's or trade marks and I am not doing that, what I am doing is an artistic impression of their bikes taken from sketches of actual bikes in the street/musuem, I am not using their name or logo's on the design or in the listings in anway. I have asked three times what law am I breaking, wher or how may I reference it and this is the reply I got
:-All the Honda motorcycles are protected by the Honda company, so any
drawings from a Honda motorcycle is a violationof Honda's trade mark.
Are they right?
Of course they are right. What you are doing is in violation of Honda's trademarks, which is exactly what they have told you. Even though you are not using logos, you are using the Honda motorcycle body type in your artwork, which is clearly being identified.
The information they are giving you acts as a cease & desist warning. If you continue to use their trademarks, you will probably be sued. If you are not convinced you are doing anything wrong, or simply want more info about this, you should contact an IP attorney immediately.
Hi so what they are saying is you can not draw, paint, airbrush, or photgraph a Honda motorcycle and use it in a design even if it is reduced to cartoon images as mine are. The implications of that are horrendous as this could mean you can not publish pictures of your own motorcyle on a website, a magazine, in film and it is could be illegal to draw/photgraph it in the first place and this could be true of all images.
I also paint pictures as a past time but I do sell them, if these include any designed object IE a ship, building, bridge etc this could hold true for them as well.
I also bought permissions to use some copyright designs from a company in the USA of Honda motorcycles just the drawing and no logo's or trade marks and these were also removed for the same reasons.
Hi so what they are saying is you can not draw, paint, airbrush, or photgraph a Honda motorcycle and use it in a design even if it is reduced to cartoon images as mine are.
Yes, that is clearly what they are saying. In my opinion, if you were doing this for personal use you would be ok. But because you are trying to profit, you are being told to cease and desist.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregblack
The implications of that are horrendous as this could mean you can not publish pictures of your own motorcyle on a website, a magazine, in film and it is could be illegal to draw/photgraph it in the first place and this could be true of all images.
This is completely erroneous.
Publishing images of your own property to a website, magazine or film is ok.
It is legal to draw or photograph for your own use. It is illegal when you sell it.
It is not true of all images, only copyrighted images or images that contain intellectual property.
None of these scenarios even remotely described what you have done. You illegally infringed on registered copyrights and trademarks for profit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregblack
I also paint pictures as a past time but I do sell them, if these include any designed object IE a ship, building, bridge etc this could hold true for them as well.
Only if a person or company claims ownership to the object as intellectual property. I doubt this is the case for most ships, buildings and bridges.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregblack
I also bought permissions to use some copyright designs from a company in the USA of Honda motorcycles just the drawing and no logo's or trade marks and these were also removed for the same reasons.
Was the company you bought permission from officially licensed by Honda? If so, you may have a case that you are entitled to use the images. If not, then you can't legally use them and they are probably being sued too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregblack
Has any body got any good news.
No offense, but what good news are you looking for? Someone to tell you that you are right?
Hi the company I bought from obviously think they are right and they sent me this link but I am not a lawyer and of course I can not afford to hire one. The link is :-http://www.uklaws.org/acts_uk/document70/index.htm
I have asked the company Vector Images if they have any knowledge of this ever being tested in law but i am waiting for them to come back to me.
The good news I am looking for is some one who fully understands these laws in full.
thanks Greg
Hi again this is the reply from Vector Images:-Thank you for your reply.
Unfortunately we have no information about similar court decisions. We
belive that such usage is legal, however you can lose a lot of time
and money in case of litigation with Honda Corp. We'd advice do not
use this image. Please request a refund for your order if needed.
Please do not hesitate to contact us should you need further assistance.
So I guess this about finishes it for me.
Cheerio Greg
It comes down to someone making a PROFIT
by using the other persons protected marks.
The next step after the C&D is to go after
the offender. You have to understand that
these corporations have young attorneys
that go out seeking trademark violations.
Part of owning the trademark, service mark,
logo etc. is to go out and protect it.
Short story about how this works and a bit
off topic but you might be interested.
A guy in Toronto, Canada was making white
ABS Plastic Stormtrooper costumes that
were from the movie Star Wars. They were
not exact but he figured out a way to use
a vacuum form machine to put out the parts
needed to make one that was pretty sharp.
They were a kit that you purchased and it
took about 2 days to cut the parts out of
the ABS sheets of plastic, sand them and
put it all together.
He sold them in the classified add in a toy
trade magazine and then made a simple
website. These costumes sold for over
$600 U.S. dollars so figure out the
profit on about 6 sheets of abs plastic.
He went under the radar for years and then
one day a young attorney from Lucas Films LTD
found his site.
He was sent a C&D and ordered to stop selling
them. well, he thought he was in the clear
and put them back up for sale online.
Lucas Films didn't create the original costume
but George Lucas used it in his film and the
"Storm Troopers" became part of the movie
series.
The young attorneys later found out that
this guy was back selling his costumes and
they took him to task. He was fined thousands
of dollars for EACH costume he sold.
If it wasn't for hundreds of thousands of fans getting together online
and begging George Lucas to call off the sharks he
would have been liable for the fines.
Mr. Lucas realized that the fans were his
bread and butter and that they enjoyed
getting into costume so he called off the
Lucas LMT legal team.
Honda is just protecting their assets and
their legal team is out there doing their job.
Even if it is a "gray" area they will get in
the water and start circling. It's what they
get paid to do.
And just to finish off this long story you can
find those costumes on ebay now but they
are now licensed and Lucas is getting their
profit.
Last edited by Austin300; November 12th, 2009 at 09:06 AM.
copyright law? 
