Hello my name is Cleve and I am a part time worker and attend college. Lately everyone has been telling me that I should start a T-shirt business because I have awesome characters. I really do want to pursue this to help pay for school. The problem is.....I don't know where to even start. I know I want to use a heat press machine and sell from my house. Eventually sell my shirts online. But what about license, and copyrights and trademarks? I thought I could just sell shirts with my designs on them but I see it is much more to it then that. Also how much would I need to start? I am so confused lol.
Completely new to everything
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Yes, there are lot of things to consider when starting up a t-shirt business. But there's nothing wrong with starting small. The important thing is to see what kind of demand there is for your product. Then figuring out a way to market it and sell it.
When you say you have awesome characters, are these original characters that you made up? Or are you re-drawing existing characters?
When you say you have awesome characters, are these original characters that you made up? Or are you re-drawing existing characters?
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What things do you need help with?
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It's not necessary, but you can if you want.
Your designs would be eligible for copyright. Technically, copyright exists when the design is in fixed form. You don't actually have to register anything. But if you want official proof on record, you can submit a "book" of designs and pay one $35 submission fee.
Your logo (and brand name) would be eligible for trademark. This is probably more important than copyrighting the designs. Because your brand is what your audience will identify with. So it's a good thing to protect this as intellectual property. You would need to register the logo with the USPTO. The application fee is $325.
All that said, your biggest priority should be to make shirts, market your brand and sell product. So if you can afford to register copyrights and trademarks, then go for it. But spend on production and marketing first.
Your designs would be eligible for copyright. Technically, copyright exists when the design is in fixed form. You don't actually have to register anything. But if you want official proof on record, you can submit a "book" of designs and pay one $35 submission fee.
Your logo (and brand name) would be eligible for trademark. This is probably more important than copyrighting the designs. Because your brand is what your audience will identify with. So it's a good thing to protect this as intellectual property. You would need to register the logo with the USPTO. The application fee is $325.
All that said, your biggest priority should be to make shirts, market your brand and sell product. So if you can afford to register copyrights and trademarks, then go for it. But spend on production and marketing first.
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These posts are a great place to start: start related topics at T-Shirt Forums
You'll find a lot of great posts about copyright, business licenses, the different printing methods, etc.
Your artwork is copyrighted as soon as you create it.
You can optionally register your artwork with the US Copyright office U.S. Copyright Office
You don't need a trademark to start selling t-shirts. You can optionally register one at the US Trademark office: Trademarks Home
Depending on where you live, you'll probably need a business license. If you google your city name and business license, you'll probably find your official local city government website with good info.
You may also need a reseller's permit to help log sales taxes within your state. This varies from state to state, so if you go to your state's official website and look up starting a business, you'll find all the info you need.
To do designs with a heat press, you'll probably want a quality heat press and then outsource the printing of your designs to a company that does "plastisol transfers". That will give you the best quality transfers that you can easily apply at home. Trying to print them yourself with an inkjet printer probably won't give you the retail/clothing line quality that your customers will be expecting from your characters.
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so a trademark really isn't necessary? I just don't want anybody else running off with my characters you know. That is one of my major concerns
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You don't need a trademark to sell shirts. But if you plan on actively taking legal action to protect against infringement on your characters, then you should register federal trademarks. But keep in mind, registering trademarks won't prevent someone from stealing your characters. You will need to take legal action to protect your property. Disney is one of the most notorious companies for protecting their IP. And yet, people infringe on their property all the time.
this is very true. My last question for now would be how much would I need to save up to start?
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There really isn't an answer for that. It depends on how many shirts you want to produce and how much you want to spend on marketing. You can spend a few hundred or you can spend a few thousand.
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