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Originally Posted by LeDynasty |  | | | | | | | | | I gather from the posts, that phrases/slogans cannot be trademarked (or it's very hard to). | |  | |  | |
Hard, not impossible. Less hard for big corporations with lots of money, which is the most common source of the kind of quotes people want to pirate (people want to rip off Disney rather more than they want to rip off me).
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Originally Posted by LeDynasty | | | | | | | | | | So does that mean that pretty much all of the saying on bustedtees are not trademarked in any way? | | | | | | |
I wouldn't count on it.
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Originally Posted by LeDynasty | | | | | | | | | | A few examples in particular is the "You have died of dysentery," which I think is from the popular game, Oregon Trail. | | | | | | |
It is.
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Originally Posted by LeDynasty | | | | | | | | | | Am I correct to assume that they probably did not get the approval from the OT game makers to market that phrase? | | | | | | |
Assumptions are dangerous, but I think these kind of assumptions are mostly fair
There are a couple of
massive t-shirt sites that have dozens of licensed shirts, but the average site is unlikely to have permission (though yes, some do).
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Originally Posted by LeDynasty | | | | | | | | | | Are video game phrases like that "fair game" to use? | | | | | | |
Grey area, but doubtful. You can't copyright a short phrase, but they may or may not be protected by being a part of the larger work. In the case of a video game specifically, you might get sued on the basis of "passing off" the trademark of the whole work: the success of the Oregon Trail t-shirt depends not just on the phrase by itself with no context, but on being a homage to the computer game. No Oregon Trail, no t-shirt... therefore a basis for a trademark or copyright infringement case by the owners of the Oregon Trail ip.
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Originally Posted by LeDynasty | | | | | | | | | | I also remember another site that sold a shirt that says "Ladies is pimps too" which is a lyrical quote from the rapper Jay-Z. Still okay to use in this case? | | | | | | |
Same thing... grey area, you'd want a lawyer.
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Originally Posted by LeDynasty | | | | | | | | | | Another situation I wonder about is the use of existing public signs as part of my "design." | | | | | | |
In most cases this would be fine.
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Originally Posted by LeDynasty | | | | | | | | | | Can I use those male/female icons? | | | | | | |
I wouldn't take my word for it, but personally I wouldn't be the least bit concerned about that, or the stop sign. Some street signs yes, but the general idea of a street sign, no.
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Originally Posted by LeDynasty | | | | | | | | | | And about parodies | | | | | | |
Often misunderstood (it's not a free reign to use ip, you need to be parodying the actual thing you are using, not using it to satirise something else), unpredictable (even when it
should count as fair use, you can't guarantee the court will rule that way), and sometimes under fire in a commercial context (that is, stick it on a t-shirt for profit and you may have trouble defending it as an artistic statement protected by free speech).
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Originally Posted by LeDynasty | | | | | | | | | | since the marketing of "got milk" there have been numerous parodies of "got ____." What's the legality of that? | | | | | | |
The phrase is trademarked, and there has definitely been litigation from the owners of the mark.
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Originally Posted by LeDynasty | | | | | | | | | | Can I create my own "got (whatever)" without encountering legal issues? | | | | | | |
Maybe. I can walk through a mine field and maybe come out the other side intact. In both cases... definitely not guaranteed. So no, you're not safe to do so.
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Originally Posted by LeDynasty | | | | | | | | | | I wish I had the funds to consult lawyers, but I don't. | | | | | | |
Sometimes you can get free access to legal advice through local business organisations, universities (if a student), etc.
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Originally Posted by LeDynasty | | | | | | | | | | From reading these threads, I guess the bottom line most people seem to lean towards is that when it comes to funny slogans, clever catchphrases, etc. that it's not worth the time nor capital to trademark these unless it is the flagship phrase of your brand. | | | | | | |
For small businesses, yes.
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Originally Posted by LeDynasty | | | | | | | | | | Correct me if I'm wrong, but its like McDonald's "I'm lovin' it" slogan, right? I think that's trademarked? | | | | | | |
Yes, they have trademarked that.
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Originally Posted by LeDynasty | | | | | | | | | | What really confuses me, is that after reading all of these do/don'ts on using proprietary characters, I'll look at a very popular site (such as tshirthell), and see [...] so how can big, popular sites seem to "get away" with it? | | | | | | |
The usual story:
- Some do whatever they want and wait for the cease and desist letter (and hope the company doesn't skip over it)
- Some can afford lawyers to defend on the basis of parody, etc.
- Some are in the process of getting sued and losing
- Some are in the process of getting sued and winning
- Some are just lucky and not getting caught
- Some are just lucky and not getting caught... yet
- Some will plan to settle out of court
- Some are ignorant of the law and don't realise the world of hurt that is coming
- Some are carefully staying on the right side of the legal divide
- Some are carefully staying on the right side of the legal divide, but will be sued anyway, and unable to afford an adequate legal defense even though what they were doing was theoretically legal.
In other words, some are getting away with it, some aren't.