A lot of people on ebay are selling tees with celebrities faces on them. These are the usual cutout effect and live trace effect used in photoshop/illustrator. One of these sellers has been around for a long while and puts the following disclaimer on his listings:
"Please note that the images on all our T-shirts are unique pieces of ORIGINAL ARTWORK. Therefore this listing does not infringe any copyright under ENGLISH LAW."
I have recently noticed a few more sellers with this disclaimer in there listings. Does anyone know if this is correct. I am also confused because they are using the band name in the main title surely this is breaching copyright.
You would have to take every case on its merit. A lot of eBay sellers also use similar terminology even when they do not feature celebrity images. Likewise a lot of sellers will also clearly state that it is NOT official merchandise they are selling.
Perhaps the real villains are eBay themselves. They seem happy to profit from tens of thousands of similar listings.
You would have to take every case on its merit. A lot of eBay sellers also use similar terminology even when they do not feature celebrity images. Likewise a lot of sellers will also clearly state that it is NOT official merchandise they are selling.
Perhaps the real villains are eBay themselves. They seem happy to profit from tens of thousands of similar listings.
Stating that it is not official merchandise is just getting a guilty plea in early.
thousands of sellers worldwide get away with it tho,,and have done for years,,,from films to bands,,,imges of faces etc,,,,,,,,,in my experience of ebay,,,,,no one actually cares, unless its an identicle image to that released on an official product.,, and mostly whats on sale usually is the sellers altered or interpration of ,,,,unless theyre part of the v.e.r.o thing which means they join ebay stating theyre copyright any on ebay copying or using theyre name for gain,, ebay removes auctions immediately,,,,,,,,, example if say the beatles name was a copy right,,,,,the only way ebay will remove it,,,is if,, the owners of the beatles name has joined ebays v.e.r.o list,, and as soon as a beatles tee shirt is listed its flagged and shows on ebays records and they chek it quikly,,,and remove if indeed it does infringe,,,, most bands etc tho have no copyright
They have copyright but not the resources to protect it.
hi,, yes i guy i play football with,has been selling tees on ebay for 8 years now hassle free,,,,,,screen printing tees anything from jaws to elm street,,,,to the rolling stones,, modern bands,,, literally hundreds of dfrnt well known films .. bands,,,cartoons etc,,,,,,and has never been approached or had any problem,,, hes just been selling em as a one colour image/ oultline type on these shirts,,and does xtremly well from it.. upto 10 - 15 shirts a day at a ten pounds clear profit,,
Surprisingly, the exact same happens on the US eBay site as well. Despite their plethora of legal vultures over there and their 'sue at the drop of a hat' ethos, there are many powersellers over there doing exactly the same thing also. I've even seen tees over there featuring album covers which is really taking the mickey.
Although stencils, original artwork etc are a grey area legally in the UK and taken on a case by case basis, just because others on eBay get away with things, you cannot automatically assume that you'll never have a legal letter come you way, or have a knock on the door from trading standards one morning.
People have to define their own risk taking and the potential consequences of their actions.
Surprisingly, the exact same happens on the US eBay site as well. Despite their plethora of legal vultures over there and their 'sue at the drop of a hat' ethos, there are many powersellers over there doing exactly the same thing also. I've even seen tees over there featuring album covers which is really taking the mickey.
Although stencils, original artwork etc are a grey area legally in the UK and taken on a case by case basis, just because others on eBay get away with things, you cannot automatically assume that you'll never have a legal letter come you way, or have a knock on the door from trading standards one morning.
People have to define their own risk taking and the potential consequences of their actions.
ive spoken to this guy this gut this morning as i quized him on it,,,hes saying that he has been approached by one entity who had the rights to a name....and another who had the rights to a film art he used,,,, he basicly sed in so many words that once he had it out with them,,,,,that becoz his images were just a one colour design and that he had changed certain litttle aspects or replaced certain aspects that the imiges had basicly been re-worked,, thus he used the excuse as seen in another post that the designs were re-designed by him,,blah blah blah,,,,and they gave in as they could do nothing.........and he has continued hassle free,,,,,,,,as do 99% of sellers in the uk,,,,,by the way the film was pulp fiction,,,,,,he was just lucky he never used a a full colour transfer of original artwork,,,,or he was gonna have real trouble onhis hands,,, his was just a black n white stencil,,,, i will get a link to this guys tees for all to see,,, that if u wanna you can,, seems as tho its not identicle to the original art youl get away with it no probs
Going back a bit to the OP, is putting someones face on a t shirt actually copyright? I know there was a load of talk around US election time as tons of people were doing Obama tees etc.
Is putting an image of someone on a t shirt actually copyright? As not every photo of a celebrity would be someones actual property, it might have been once, but once they sell it to the papers and the papers plaster it all over the internet, then anyone can use it, or not?
Going back a bit to the OP, is putting someones face on a t shirt actually copyright? I know there was a load of talk around US election time as tons of people were doing Obama tees etc.
Is putting an image of someone on a t shirt actually copyright? As not every photo of a celebrity would be someones actual property, it might have been once, but once they sell it to the papers and the papers plaster it all over the internet, then anyone can use it, or not?
financial gain from someonelses face,,NO,,the actual face is the owners property ,, its theyre face dfrnt with obama imo,, i suppose if sumone was using my face on theyre goods to make money,,,,,and i knew, id deffo have sumthin to say about it,,,,,and im pretty sure if i went to right place,, to have it stopd i could,,,, AND I WOULD SUE becoz to me my face is mines and why shoud anyone make money off it unless they had my permision,IF U GET MY MEANING!,,,,,,,this would apply to anyone famous i suppose,,, unless they didnt give a toss,,,,,,,,but most do,,,especially if they feel embarrased or misrepresented by your tees THEY WILL HAVE THEM STOPPED,,,,,,, i know someone who had a simple black outline photo of kate moss on theyre white shirts,,,,,turns out being vain she was alerted to these tees,,,and took an instant disliking ,, the guy was sued / taken to court, had to pay up A LOT,, w0rst of it was he had only sold 3 of them for 12,99 each .and theyre was / still is hundreds of othrs out theyre on ebay unnafected,,i guess she must have liked most othrs and not bothered,,, just your luck with using a famous face
just too add ive recently read on another forum that a guy in the uk was very recently done for selling tee shirts of the killers band....this tee had brandon flowers ,,the lead singer on it......his face only this time, no mention of name, or the band name it was a transfer image in full colour,,,,,and he had sold loads of them at 9.99,,,,,,,, caused him a world of grief , from what i read,,,,,so much so ,,he has had to pack in tees altogether and is now in debt etc
UK Copyright Law 
hi,, yes i guy i play football with,has been selling tees on ebay for 8 years now hassle free,,,,,,screen printing tees anything from jaws to elm street,,,,to the rolling stones,, modern bands,,, literally hundreds of dfrnt well known films .. bands,,,cartoons etc,,,,,,and has never been approached or had any problem,,, hes just been selling em as a one colour image/ oultline type on these shirts,,and does xtremly well from it.. upto 10 - 15 shirts a day at a ten pounds clear profit,,
,,the lead singer on it......his face only this time, no mention of name, or the band name it was a transfer image in full colour,,,,,and he had sold loads of them at 9.99,,,,,,,, caused him a world of grief , from what i read,,,,,so much so ,,he has had to pack in tees altogether and is now in debt etc
