mr_muncher said:
so again...if your not sure...dont do it! SERIOUSLY your time lost away from your business and the sleepless nights will kill you in the end, even if you win the case!
Wise words from an informed person! Thoroughly endorse the quoted statement and all you say about lawyers. Keep away from 'em! If you lose, they win. If you win, they win. And they value themselves outrageously highly.
Having said all that...the fact is, as anyone who regularly attends market stalls will know, Tshirt vendors/designers frequently and flagrantly ignore copyright issues with celebrity Tshirts, and the truth - for better or worse - is that few of them ever get prosecuted.
Similarly, for all Ebay's claims about strictly policing copyright abuse, there are many instances of Tshirt sellers blatantly and profitably exploiting lines from popular tv shows, bands and celebrities, without license. One guy on Ebay Australia is evidently making a fortune (going by his feedback) selling his own designs of Ts quoting catchphrases from Little Britain, in many instances with accompanying graphics of the characters from the show. The same guy sells Desperate Houswives Ts and any number of other such TV/celeb themed stuff. And he's being doing it for quite a while now, evidently without attracting any attention from wigs seeking to protect the copyright owners' interests.
In stating the facts as above, please don't anyone go posting accusations that I am condoning copyright abuse of the sort outlined above (as has happened in the past) - I am not. In fact, I have been a victim of copyright abuse; I'm on the side of the artist! I am simply pointing out that there is a world of difference between the way things are legally supposed to be, and the way they are in reality.