Is it legal to put rhinestones on a hat and selling it?

[netpox]

I am in Florida, USA. Is it legal to purchase a NCAA licensed baseball cap and put rhinestones on it and sell it for more?

Example: I purchase a licensed NCAA Florida Gators hat. And i put orange rhinestones on the letter F. Then i sell it for more.

Is this legal?

Same would apply for NFL, MLB, NBA??

 

[justalayman]

where are you buying your hats from?

 

[netpox]

where are you buying your hats from?

I am buying hats wholesale from the distributor. Sometimes i buy them from Lids.com. All the hats i get have the licensed tag on them.

 

[justalayman]

if buying them from a distributor, you cannot do anything your license does not allow you to do.

If you purchase an item retail, the item then is considered not new and you can do pretty much what you want. If it is considered a new product (often evidenced by your purchase from a wholesaler rather than a retailer), you are bound by the licensing in place and cannot alter the product without permission.

 

[netpox]

so why can i buy the same product from retail and modify it and sell it but not from wholesale?

 

[justalayman]

it's the first sale doctrine.

http://law.lexisnexis.com/webcenters/images/img-automated-search.png

if you sell it as a new product, the purchaser believes the trademark or copyright holder approved of the design. You are misrepresenting the copyright or trademark holders intent and design.

a distributor gets to be a distributor because they sign agreements with the manufacturer and the TM and Copyright holders to follow their rules. The retailers buy from the wholesaler with the same rules imposed.

Once it is retailed, those rules no longer apply. You also cannot represent it as an official anything because it isn't an official anything. It is your alterations that change that.