Selling t-shirts can be a great way to make money online. But to protect your business, you need to know how to avoid copyright infringements with t-shirts. Copyright complaints can get your content removed from your ecommerce site or cost you steep financial penalties. You may end up effectively selling t-shirts to make money for someone else. Fortunately, avoiding copyright infringement isn’t hard when you know the rules.
Avoiding Copyright Infringement
Don’t use logos on t-shirts without permission. Selling shirts with copyrighted images needs explicit permission.
- Generate original designs
- Contract a designer
- Use royalty-free images that need no payment
- Some public domain images have expired copyrights
Fines amount to $250,000 and five years in prison. Make original designs. Find images with no copyright. Pay for designs. Change existing designs. Infringing copyright is illegal for companies and individuals.
Incorporate national symbols, flags, coats of arms, etc. Personal non-commercial use of logos is fine. But selling items with logos without permission is illegal.
TeeSpring helps launch an online venture to sell your designs. It’s a stable platform offering services for free. Screen printing businesses can make good money.
Using Quotes and Trademarks
Quotes need attribution if short or generic. Most people won’t pursue you. Courts recognize publicity rights. You can dispute unwarranted publicity.
Commercial use of logos without permission is illegal. Trademarks are nouns. Steer clear of logos on shirts. If personal and non-commercial, it’s fine.
Copyright your design. Copyright prevents others profiting. Quotes are protected property. Public domain items don’t infringe copyright.
Register trademarks through state or federal organizations. Don’t use celebrity images without authorization. Logos are usually trademarks, not copyrights. Only owners can use logos.
Parodies and Permissions
Parodies fair use copyrighted works. Parodies comment on original works. Parodies are legal if permitted. Parodies are still legal without permission.
Logos belong to businesses, brands, and companies. Only owners can use them. Selling shirts is not hard. Doing it right makes profit.
Superman is a registered trademark. You need permission no matter the color. Don’t use celebrity images without authorization. Avoid celebrity images. It’s complicated.
Determine if permission is needed. See if materials are protected by law.