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mrshadow · June 2nd, 2008

but you can see everywhere the clebs faces. In t-shirt rap, hip hop artists, singers, celebs...
Everybody is paying to them ? I don`t think so.

Girlzndollz · June 2nd, 2008

There is no way to know unless you ask them. Some folks do have legitimate rights to printing. The main question one has to ask oneself is, "Do I have the legitimate right to print this?" If the answer is no, it's the person's own judgment call how to proceed from there. It's like my mother used to say, if everyone jumped off a bridge, would you do it, too? Sometimes our parents made sense. No one is telling anyone what to do or not to do. As far as I can see, people are just trying to explain what is and isn't allowed. What anyone does with that information is their own business. Using copyrighted or trademarked property opens one up to the risk of being hit with an infringment lawsuit, but the C or TM owner does have to initiate the action for it to happen. It's like any other risk people assume. It may not happen, but it could.

mrshadow · June 2nd, 2008

Yeah I understand your point and you are bery right.
But in one side there is a mass production and in other side a person who is a fan and print Sawyer or Jack Bauer on a t-shirt and sold just 5 tees...I know it`s still copyright issue but who cares about the person selling 10 tees...

jclynn67 · June 3rd, 2008

Not sure on this ... but my thoughts on this is that they may buy the shirts already done and just reselling ... or buy the heat transfers from somewhere that has the permission already ... thus this would be legal in my opinion. You can buy from someone with permission as long as you are not printing them yourself just pressing them is my understanding atleast ... I may be wrong though ... please correct me if I am wrong!
Jody

mystysue · June 3rd, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrshadow


	Yeah I understand your point and you are bery right. But in one side there is a mass production and in other side a person who is a fan and print Sawyer or Jack Bauer on a t-shirt and sold just 5 tees...I know it`s still copyright issue but who cares about the person selling 10 tees...

The People that own the design care..
and if caught (and believe me little guys get caught too) they will go after you as much as they will the big guys.....

They can as much as not only take your stock.. but sue you.. and depending on what it is your are printing.. take your equipment and close you down..

Is it worth it.. to make the little bit you do on counterfit designs..

sunnydayz · June 3rd, 2008

You are right there are people who sell shirts with celebritys images on them and they are breaking the law and they may or may not get caught. Media has different rules and they are allowed to take pics and publish them. However for tshirt printers you have what is called the right to privacy of these people and it is against the law for you to print their pictures without their permission.

jclynn67 · June 3rd, 2008

I was talking about the NFL and such ... and ordering transfers from like Pro World and others that have the permission to print them ... not printing them myself. That is how I would assume alot of them are doing it and the only legal way to sell them. I have purchased from ProWorld transfers and pressed them and that is legal for me to resell them ... not legal if I was to print them myself and resell them. Correct???

DAGuide · June 3rd, 2008

TV, newspapers and magazines can publish pictures of famous celebs without their permission under the "newsworthy" exception of the right to privacy since these people are considered "public figures". I just taught this in my Business Law I class two week ago. The problem with t-shirts, license plates and other items is it does not fall into this exception. Thus, you need to have permission to do it legally.

As far as the statement there is no real harm for the person that just prints 10 shirts, that is the wrong way to look at it. Look at it from the stance that you have a copyrighted design. Would you be upset if someone that your rights to that design and uses it without your permission and does not pay you for it? Sure, so what is the difference.

Business is all about risk vs. rewards. It is just important to understand that the risk of getting caught might be low, but the penalty if you get caught can be very high depending on how aggressive the rightful owner is (i.e. Disney, John Deer, Harley Davidson,... they are very aggressive). Bottom line - there are plenty of other ways to make money from that for most people...it is not worth it.

Just my opinion.

Mark

raise · June 25th, 2008

Semi old thread but I have another copyright question to add to this.

Employees of a large corporate entity are asking to personalize their uniforms (single color t-shirt or polo shirt) with the company logo.

As they are employees, am I allowed to add the logo to their clothes for them?

Jasonda · June 26th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by raise


	Employees of a large corporate entity are asking to personalize their uniforms (single color t-shirt or polo shirt) with the company logo. As they are employees, am I allowed to add the logo to their clothes for them?

You'll need to get written permission from the boss, or if it's a really big corporation, the IP or press department.

You are liable for whatever you print, not just the people who order it - so always better to stay on the safe side.

Sheepsalt · June 26th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by raise


	Semi old thread but I have another copyright question to add to this. Employees of a large corporate entity are asking to personalize their uniforms (single color t-shirt or polo shirt) with the company logo. As they are employees, am I allowed to add the logo to their clothes for them?

Are the employees coming to you personally as individuals, or are you working for the company?

I would think if the order is placed through the company that it wouldn't be a problem, but you'd still want them to sign something.

Sheepsalt · June 26th, 2008

Mark,

Thanks for the explanation of "newsworthy" exception - that makes sense. I had questioned gossip mags getting to use the images, etc.

Now, maybe I'm wrong & should be seeking an attorney on this, but if I have a clause in a contract with someone who's hiring me to print for them that say's they either own or have the right to use/re-produce the submitted artwork, doesn't that pretty much place the culpability on them? I suppose if someone wanted me to print shirts with some obvious nationally-known brand trademark I could be considered negligent to believe they have the rights/license to use it without seeing the paperwork, but for general stuff wouldn't the clause apply pretty safely?

raise · June 26th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheepsalt


	Are the employees coming to you personally as individuals, or are you working for the company? I would think if the order is placed through the company that it wouldn't be a problem, but you'd still want them to sign something.

They are coming as individuals. Word of mouth that I do garment decoration and I have gotten requests to add the corporate logo to their clothing.

ImageIt · June 26th, 2008

From a business standpoint, i may choose to look at this as an opportunity to get my foot in the door. While on most days i would be happy with a signed release, in a case like this i would try to talk to somebody inside the business.

Rather than selling a handful of shirts, why not try to pump out a bigger order? The motive of the employees seems very honorable, from a platform like that it should be easy to get a sign up sheet posted at the business to allow everyone to have a similar opportunity.

fred

Sheepsalt · June 26th, 2008

I definitely agree with Fred. If employees are requesting shirts on their own, it should be an easy sell to someone in the office. Get the company involved and all the infringement issues go away.