Song lyrics are copyrighted. Unless one gets legal permission, license agreement, then it is copyright infringement. A quick trip to the copyright.gov easily explains that.
For this company, on their website, they write up a great bit of how they operate. They "give away" more than they "keep". They also are fully licensed and signed contracts with major music publishers.
This page on their site includes all the information that answers:
http://www.orphanlyrics.com/the-story-so-far.aspx
*How do they do it and get away with it?
*How are they a for profit company and give the profits to charity?
As far as other tee shirts you see being printed with song lyrics on them, here is some general information to keep in mind:
Original quote by Solmu:
"The usual story:
- Some do whatever they want and wait for the cease and desist letter (and hope the company doesn't skip over it)
- Some can afford lawyers to defend on the basis of parody, etc.
- Some are in the process of getting sued and losing
- Some are in the process of getting sued and winning
- Some are just lucky and not getting caught
- Some are just lucky and not getting caught... yet
- Some will plan to settle out of court
- Some are ignorant of the law and don't realise the world of hurt that is coming
- Some are carefully staying on the right side of the legal divide
- Some are carefully staying on the right side of the legal divide, but will be sued anyway, and unable to afford an adequate legal defense even though what they were doing was theoretically legal.
In other words, some are getting away with it, some aren't."
Endquote
Since this thread topic is ultimately a legal question, it's best that we steer clear of it. There are plenty of topics that cover copyright and trademark and using famous images in parody that you can find by using the search box at the top of the forum.
The usual recommendations apply:
- Talk to lawyer if you want to do something that you think might be illegal or have a legal question. They will be the ones that can help you and even then, you could still get sued. But at least then, if you get sued and they said it was probably "ok", then at least you have someone that can go to court for you.
- Any "ways around it" advice given in a forum could get you sued. Even if 1000 people tell you it's OK, you could still get sued and have to come up with a lawyer and defend your right to do it.
For further reading, check out:
U.S. Copyright Office
Trademarks
copyright related topics at T-Shirt Forums
trademark related topics at T-Shirt Forums