Re: Anyone here been sued?

I think a couple of members have reported receiving cease and desist orders for some of their designs.

I remember I created a "bling bling" design a few years ago that I was advertising via adwords and I got a cease and desist from a company that had the trademark to that phrase.

I wonder if there have been any people that went though a whole case though...

 

Re: Anyone here been sued?

I think a couple of members have reported receiving cease and desist orders for some of their designs.

I'm pretty sure DickTees got a cease and desist for something.

 

Not me personally yet I have seen a couple locals get slammed for printing & selling knock offs for the Florida Georiga and Gator Bowl.

 

[Thread hijack]Ya know... being from Jacksonville, I expect you have seen a number of those knock off's selling around town!... go G8ors![/thread hijack]

 

I had the eBay logo on a shirt, and got the letter saying eBay was protective of their logo and did not allow any use of it.

 

A few years ago when the California Angels went to the World Series there were a bunch of people selling Angels tshirts on street corners around the stadium without problem. Maybe they were sactioned but I doubt it.

 

Looks like getting a cease and desist order is pretty much the worst thing that can happen...

 

Let's not jump to conclusions just yet with only a few answers

Just because nobody here has yet wanted to go into depth in a public forum about their legal t-shirt troubles doesn't mean that people aren't getting sued (I know the bigger print on demand places sometimes get lawsuits instead of cease and desists. Depending on how aggressive the law firm is.)

 

yea, i was thinking of selling Red Sox shirts around fenway this summer...I was thinking to avoid that whole trouble with coyrights and all that maybe ill stick to just saying like Yankees Suck! and things like that...haha They can't bust you for things like that can they? Only thing they can get you on is not having a permit to sell in the street...

 

They can't bust you for things like that can they? Only thing they can get you on is not having a permit to sell in the street...

Yes, they can bust you for both. Selling without a permit and selling unlicensed merchandise.

Some people still do it, but it doesn't make it any less illegal.

However, I don't want this topic too sidetracked on what is allowed or isn't; that way we can get some good feedback on Chris's original question seeing if anybody here has been sued

 

I was told to pull my Steelers shirt that I designed. Ebay didn't tell me to pull it. The guys on Ebay who were selling the licensed brand did. Due to mine selling more then theirs. I was just starting out so I pulled it didn't want any trouble. Ebay never told me to pull it though.
hugs
Chrissy

 

Ebay never told me to pull it though.

That was likely a matter of time. If the steelers or the licensed sellers contacted eBay through their VERO program, then eBay would have asked you directly.

They have bajillions of listings, so I think it might be common for some to slip through.

 

Although this person is not "here", the topic of this thread does remind me of a recent article I ran across that is very relevant to this issue:


Starbucks sues and wins over parody t-shirt trademark infringement

Very interesting quotes from the article:

Starbucks attorneys made no effort to contact Dwyer prior to slapping him with a lawsuit...

In other words, while Judge Chesney agreed that Dwyer's image was a legitimate parody in and of itself, and thereby protected by the First Amendment, the sale of items bearing that image constituted an infringement on Starbucks' trademark. Dwyer cannot profit by this image, because the only reason that people would buy the t-shirt, mugs, or stickers was because they bore a logo "confusingly similar" to Starbucks'.

More here: CBLDF: News-

 

Oh I know. I contacted Ebay and they told me I should have waited until they told me to pull it. Not to listen to other sellers anymore. It was still in my shop till last week. I pulled it for I am revamping my ebay store and loading my new one.

I have been veroed for my st. louis shirt and charm but they told me I have to take the all sizes shirts off the listing then I could list it.
hugs
Chrissy

 

Wow my fav coffee too
hugs
Chrissy

 

i'm gotten, NO LIE. about 8 cease and desist letters. they all scream that they want anywhere from $3,000 - $35,000! everyone is bluffing. they do not want to goto court at all. NO WAY NO HOW! this recent starbucks thing will NOT workout in their favor. that cartoonist will not have to come out of pocket for much. if all. it will be tied up forever in court and eventually the cost of court will outweight any settlement they would get. they will settle out of court for under $5,000 bucks if it's not just dropped. trust me on this one....

anyway i had to pay one entity $275 and they were asking for $20,00.00. BTW this was in my past when i was an avid ebay seller trying to make some quick cash heat pressing inkjet transfers to buy better equipment for our sign/t-shirt shop... you know the transfers with movie pictures on them, wrestlers and music stars etc... WE NO LONGER DO THIS BECAUSE WHEN YOU PLAY WITH FIRE TOO LONG....PLUS THESE COMPANIES TALK AND IF YOU DO IT TO ENOUGH OF THEM....SOMEONE IS GONNA FIND OUT AND REALLY STICK IT TO YOU! if anyone needs any info. on how to handle situations like this, don't hesitate to ask. i don't condone it at all. there is some risk and karma is a *****! trust me

 

Rodney is right-on about "Not being fore-warned". Back in the early ninties, I had read that if you change a design as much or more than twenty percent then it is your design. However, lawyers found the soft belly in that argument and tore it out with those razor sharp talons.
West Virginia Moutaineers were called the "Beast of the East" back then. I tried to get license to print but was turned down. I changed the design and began a very profitable long lasting run. One evening, a federal marshal showed up and gave me more than a open-hand-slap-to-the-mouth.
Too make a long story short...The attorney for the university went thru all my records and I had to make full restitution of all my sells and pay several hefty fines to boot. I almost lost my equipment as well.
So I guess the answer to "Getting Sued" is YES...you will...and they will try to destroy you in the process.


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I had heard about that Starbucks lawsuit a while back, too; however, it seems that it takes a lot to really make them angry. I mean, that's not just a parody about Starbucks, it's an outright attack! And, one of the most aggressive I've seen

 

One or two years ago I've heard a story from a shopkeeper about a cease and desist order for some parody shirt's with the UPC or UPS logo on it, not sure which anymore. Could be shirts from Gorillashirt, but not sure either. He was a bit vague about it. Only thing I remember for sure is that he had to send back the whole lot to be destroyed!
Anyone knows more about this story/shirts?

 

I think I'm up to 12 C&D's for parody or humor shirts. But thakfully no actual proceedings. I would have to say that they are mostly used as a scare tactic. If someone plans on sueing you they will just file suit and forget about the advanced warning. The last half dozen I've got were from other t-shirt sites claiming copyright infringement of their design but quickly disappeared when I produced the copyright that was registered well before they said they created their design.

Funniest one I ever got was from t-shirt hell saying a design was derived from theirs since a it was printed upside down even though it wasn't even the same phrase. It turned out I was selling mine nearly a year before they started selling theirs and I haven't heard back from them after forwarding the proof.

 

Funniest one I ever got was from t-shirt hell saying a design was derived from theirs since a it was printed upside down even though it wasn't even the same phrase. It turned out I was selling mine nearly a year before they started selling theirs and I haven't heard back from them after forwarding the proof.

It's amazing; T-Shirt Hell has a bunch of parody designs they could be sued for...

 

No, but I've had 2 designs stolen and put on shirts by other companies! One, I was watching TV and saw my design on a Disney TV show !!! (they bought it at a local mall), a cease and desist and a small $ settlement of all profits later (that's all I could get in this state because I didn't copyright it but I DID prove I designed it) and the manufacturer pulled it. Last month I was walking down another mall and saw another of my designs in a 'well known' window display! In litigation currently, I decided to sell my own shirts since my designs seem to be popping up friggin' everywhere! So I entered the world of T-shirts last month! Crazy, some BIG companies out there will steal an image and take the chance over designing something new... at 2 designs available per store, they won't be out a whole lot if caught...

 

That is the big faceless companies I'm talking about, not the little guy!

 

I remember years ago, I was coming out of a U2/Pixies concert. The "real" U2 shirt showed all 4 band members, and Bono had short hair.

We walked by a shirt stand, and my friend said to the guy selling them, "Those shirts are knock-offs." And the guy denied it up and down. Until my friend pointed out that the picture of Bono, was an older picture... Bono with long hair.

The guy shut right up, and looked pretty embarassed. Too funny when you catch 'em on such a stupid mistake.

(The Pixies were the best back then...)

 

Getting back to the parody tees...what I don't understand is how some can get away with it and some don't. For example,Welcome: T-Shirt Humor: The Funny T-Shirt Store. They are a huge parody t-shirt company. The designers are former newpaper editorialists so they must know all the ins and outs. Go figure.

 

Getting back to the parody tees...what I don't understand is how some can get away with it and some don't. For example,Welcome: T-Shirt Humor: The Funny T-Shirt Store.

Some only get away with it for a little while, some may just not caught "yet". Some may be in litigation. Some may have lawyers who have fought suits for them. There's a lot of reasons.

 

I think Rodney is right when the mentioned the lawyers that have fought suits for some of these companies that do parody tees. T-Shirt Humor has been around a long time and like I said in my previous post, they are former newspaper cartoon editorialists who probably know their rights and are not easily scared off.

 

It's amazing; T-Shirt Hell has a bunch of parody designs they could be sued for.

They have been sued a few times.

 

And they still go around suing people? That's ludicrous!

 

Who has sued T-Shirt Hell? I don't recall them getting sued.

Wasn't there some sort of hoo haw about the Olsen twins and Christopher Reeve or something? I thought I remember reading something on their site about it?

And they still go around suing people? That's ludicrous!

People get sued and still sue all the time. That's just business. If someone takes your designs, you have to protect yourself and your intellectual property.

I think they sued (and won) against the Osbornes for using their images without permission.

 

Wasn't there some sort of hoo haw about the Olsen twins and Christopher Reeve or something? I thought I remember reading something on their site about it?

I believe they received cease and desists for those incidents. I don't remember T-Shirt Hell ever actually getting sued.