I have looked at Istock and all the similar sights but what I am really after is famous images. I don’t mind paying good money for the rights to reproduce sellable images/designs of well known logos or characters. Does anyone know of any web site that will resell famous logos such as “Space Invaders” or characters such as “Captain Caveman” or the “Mr Men”
Since you have specific logo's you want to use your best bet is to google names, determine the rights owner and contact them directly for licensing procedures.
Another suggestion is to google for stock transfers. If those are available and allow for reselling then you could apply those to your garments and not have to worry about specific licensing deals and the minimums that come with them.
I've been curious about the Mr Men and Little Miss t-shirts. They are everywhere, even I have one (a gift from the missus). Apparently they were big in the '80s and have made a comeback.
Last week I went to a bookstore and realised it's from a children's book series by Roger Hargreaves. I googled him and read that he's passed away, his family has sold the rights to some big company.
There are sites like crazydogtshirts and truffleshuffle who sell Mr Men and Little Miss tees by the bucketloads. I don't know if the company who bought the rights sells the image rights to t-shirt retailers, or is there a massive copyright infringement going on internationally? 'Cos the missus told me she got the tee from a pushcart stall in Singapore or Thailand...
Last week I went to a bookstore and realised it's from a children's book series by Roger Hargreaves.
Yup, awesome books. Sounds like they might not have been as well known in your neck of the woods - they couldn't be missed here.
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Originally Posted by tshirt0mania
I don't know if the company who bought the rights sells the image rights to t-shirt retailers, or is there a massive copyright infringement going on internationally?
A bit of both I think. I'm not sure, but I believe there are licensed shirts out there. I'm also positive that some are pirated. Then there's the labels that are nothing but Mr Men parodies (Mr Drunk, Miss Slutty and the like).
I don't know how license fees would work out. I presume it would be a fixed fee rather than royalty basis?
If you are already an established business, with product lines in lots of physical stores, then you can take the chance and purchase the license. If you don't have that type of business infrastructure, a license would be a major financial loss, if you couldn't sell the items in volume.
The mass pirated garments are usually badly printed on very cheap tee shirts, that soon fall to bits. They sellers are just out to make a quick buck, not establish a legitimate business.
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