Selling Political T-Shirts - Questions About IP / Copyright

[chayes1]

I'm from Ontario Canada, I'm planning on creating unique T-Shirt designs and selling them to Americans for the upcoming election.

I have a few of questions about selling political T-Shirts:

-If I buy the rights to a photograph of Trump, can I use that on a T-Shirt? I hear that for politicians in the US that's OK as long as you own the rights to the image?

-If I create a 100% unique vector (cartoony) type graphic, is that ok to use on my T-Shirt?

-Is it ok if I use phrases like 'Crooked Hillary' and 'Drumpf' etc on the shirts?

Please advise, I could really use the help.

Thanks in advance! And great forum BTW.

 

[quincy]

I'm from Ontario Canada, I'm planning on creating unique T-Shirt designs and selling them to Americans for the upcoming election.

I have a few of questions about selling political T-Shirts:

-If I buy the rights to a photograph of Trump, can I use that on a T-Shirt? I hear that for politicians in the US that's OK as long as you own the rights to the image?

-If I create a 100% unique vector (cartoony) type graphic, is that ok to use on my T-Shirt?

-Is it ok if I use phrases like 'Crooked Hillary' and 'Drumpf' etc on the shirts?

Please advise, I could really use the help.

Thanks in advance! And great forum BTW.

We handle US law questions only, chayes. If you were to be sued over your tee-shirts, you would probably be sued in Ontario under Canada's copyright, trademark, publicity rights and/or defamation laws (all of which could potentially come into play with the sale of the tee-shirts).

You are correct however that, in the US, politicians (and other public figures) give up a lot of their rights. But they still have rights that must be considered. In other words, licensing the rights from the photographer of, or holder of the copyrights in, a photograph of Trump or Clinton will allow you to use the copyrighted photographs without worry of copyright infringement. It then becomes an issue of how the photographs are used and whether your uses infringe on Trump trademarks, Clinton or Trump's publicity rights, or if the tee-shirts work to defame either one of them (although it might be hard to say something about either one of them that would work to harm their reputations at this point).

I suggest you check with an attorney in your area before investing a lot of money in tee-shirt design and production, to be on the safe side. Good luck.

 

[chayes1]

We handle US law questions only, chayes. If you were to be sued over your tee-shirts, you would probably be sued in Ontario under Canada's copyright, trademark, publicity rights and/or defamation laws (all of which could potentially come into play with the sale of the tee-shirts).

You are correct however that, in the US, politicians (and other public figures) give up a lot of their rights. But they still have rights that must be considered. In other words, licensing the rights from the photographer of, or holder of the copyrights in, a photograph of Trump or Clinton will allow you to use the copyrighted photographs without worry of copyright infringement. It then becomes an issue of how the photographs are used and whether your uses infringe on Trump trademarks, Clinton or Trump's publicity rights, or if the tee-shirts work to defame either one of them (although it might be hard to say something about either one of them that would work to harm their reputations at this point).

I suggest you check with an attorney in your area before investing a lot of money in tee-shirt design and production, to be on the safe side. Good luck.

Hi Quincy, thanks for taking the time to offer some help.

I'll give a couple examples of the types of shirts I'm thinking of making:

The words 'dump trump' above a cartoon turd that looks like Donald Trumps face. The words Crooked Hillary for Prison 2016.. etc.. basically pretty ruthless designs that go after both candidates and pander to the people who hate them. There's already loads of these types of shirts being sold. A guy from the US named Ben Garrison has been making absolutely brutal Hillary cartoons and shirts (you can google his work) and he doesn't seem to have any legal troubles from it.

I'm not really concerned with it being illegal, unless there's actually a realistic probability they will take me to court.

If they don't like the shirts I'd assume the process is:

-Send a takedown notice

-If shirts don't stop being sold file paperwork to pursue legal action

-Go to court

That's what most companies like the NHL, Disney etc will do.

I'd be selling shirts through a 3rd party shop that will take them down immediately if there's any copyright or legal claim.

Outside of legal advice, do you have any idea how much of a risk it is to sell these kinds of shirts?

 

[quincy]

Hi Quincy, thanks for taking the time to offer some help.

I'll give a couple examples of the types of shirts I'm thinking of making:

The words 'dump trump' above a cartoon turd that looks like Donald Trumps face. The words Crooked Hillary for Prison 2016.. etc.. basically pretty ruthless designs that go after both candidates and pander to the people who hate them. There's already loads of these types of shirts being sold. A guy from the US named Ben Garrison has been making absolutely brutal Hillary cartoons and shirts (you can google his work) and he doesn't seem to have any legal troubles from it.

I'm not really concerned with it being illegal, unless there's actually a realistic probability they will take me to court.

I'd assume the process is:

-Send a takedown notice

-If shirts don't stop being sold file paperwork to pursue legal action

-Go to court

I'd be selling shirts through a 3rd party shop that will take them down immediately if there's any copyright or legal claim.

Outside of legal advice, do you have any idea how much of a risk it is to sell these kinds of shirts?

There is a legal risk in selling the types of tee-shirts you wish to sell. How much of a risk is something I can't tell you.

Right now I imagine both Trump and Clinton and their political teams have better things to do than to sue tee-shirt makers. It is even possible that they like the free publicity (even when it is not exactly flattering).

But I know that politicians (and other public figures) have sued over the use of their images in commercial ventures in the past, and they have sued for defamation, and artists and photographers have sued over the unauthorized uses of their creative works (the risk of which you eliminate by creating your own original works or getting permission from the copyright holders prior to use).

Clinton or Trump may not be the litigious sort or they might find that a lawsuit is something they wish to pursue. The statute of limitations for filing suits of the sort that might arise over your tee-shirts tend to be longer in the US than they are in Canada, I believe, so your legal risk might be less than it would be for someone in the States.

I suggest you consult with an attorney in Ontario prior to marketing your tee-shirts. Good luck.

 

[CTU]

Clinton or Trump may not be the litigious sort or ...

... I might become president instead?

(I mean, I can't - well, not POTUS anyway - but that's not the point)

 

[quincy]

... I might become president instead?

(I mean, I can't - well, not POTUS anyway - but that's not the point)

If someone from Kenya can become President, so can someone from the UK, I would think.

 

[chayes1]

There is a legal risk in selling the types of tee-shirts you wish to sell. How much of a risk is something I can't tell you.

Right now I imagine both Trump and Clinton and their political teams have better things to do than to sue tee-shirt makers. It is even possible that they like the free publicity (even when it is not exactly flattering).

But I know that politicians (and other public figures) have sued over the use of their images in commercial ventures in the past, and they have sued for defamation, and artists and photographers have sued over the unauthorized uses of their creative works (the risk of which you eliminate by creating your own original works or getting permission from the copyright holders prior to use).

Clinton or Trump may not be the litigious sort or they might find that a lawsuit is something they wish to pursue. The statute of limitations for filing suits of the sort that might arise over your tee-shirts tend to be longer in the US than they are in Canada, I believe, so your legal risk might be less than it would be for someone in the States.

I suggest you consult with an attorney in Ontario prior to marketing your tee-shirts. Good luck.

Thanks again Quincy, your advice has been very helpful to me.

See ya around the forums. Cheers!

 

[quincy]

Thanks again Quincy, your advice has been very helpful to me.

See ya around the forums. Cheers!

Thanks for the thanks, chayes1.