Comments on: 7 Legal Tips for Your T-Shirt Business

By: Geni

Geni — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:29:46 +0000

I’m starting a clothing line soon, this article is so helpful because i’ve always been confusing the whole trademark/copyright thing. Now my problem is that you mentioned that “legal protection is not necessary to start your t-shirt business” but I want to launch my brand’s logo on a shirt, my question is, should I copyright that design or should I go ahead and trademark it (i have little profit right now) because I’m afraid that if I don’t give it any “legal protection” some other person might take it. Ah! What to do?!

By: Ally-J

Ally-J — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:42:46 +0000

Hey! This is kind of urgent! A friend and I want to start selling shirts, tank tops etc. to friends at school … ones with our designs but we’re wondering… Is it legal or illegal to like buy a plain colored shirt(no design on it just a blank, plain, colored shirt), iron on our own design on it and then sell it? If it is illegal how can we legalize it and would we need our parents to do it because we are under 18?

By: Shaun

Shaun — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 01:49:08 +0000

I want to know which do I need~a copyright or a trademark? If I created a particular group of words that I want to put on a T-shirt, like “A good woman is.. with a list”, which do I need?

By: AJ

AJ — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:59:02 +0000

@J Blunt, it’s unlikely that you’ll get in trouble for this, as I see several brands use this image on merchandise. I wouldn’t exactly recommend using the photo though. A better alternative would be to re-draw the image.

By: J Blunt

J Blunt — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 18:06:09 +0000

So I have a really important question!!! I have a business and we want to have buttons. We used one of Spike Lee’s picture of him looking up with the word “Brooklyn” on his hat and he’s suppose to be looking up at our logo. Would we get in trouble if we sold them or if we just gave them away? Thanks, and nice site!

By: AJ

AJ — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 20:26:27 +0000

D.Gillespie,
Sounds like your just making the t-shirts for fun. Since it’s not being mass produced and your not starting a business based on it, you shouldn’t get in trouble for it at all.

By: D. Gillespie

D. Gillespie — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 17:59:24 +0000

I was asked to create a Star Wars theme shirt for our school faculty to wear on spirit days. I was thinking of doing a picture of Darth Vader and Yoda. The image would be flat and in black and white. Would I get introuble for producing these?

By: Marcus W.

Marcus W. — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 06:15:44 +0000

There is a website that I really like and I really would like to make t-shirts out of their orginal logo because I notice that they do ont make t-shirts for their brand name. I know if I did this whithout permission and they caught me I could be in big trouble. But I was wondering whether if it was possible to be able to get a licensing contract from big companies nowadays and be able to make products with their names on them without having to pay expensive licensing fees. How would I even go about trying to do something like this? And, would it even be worth doing?

By: Nikki

Nikki — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 16:18:08 +0000

If you use a hanes t-shirt, or get a tshirt/tank top in the style you want, but it is made from a certain company, are there any laws regarding that company owning the t-shirt design? Otherwise each t-shirt would have to be hand-sewn, and I’m pretty sure not many people do that. I just don’t want to buy a shirt from a store, put my artwork/logo on it, and sell it, then find out it’s not legal

By: alicia

alicia — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:40:43 +0000

If my company name is trademark how can I get a traffic artist to come up with images based on the ideas I give them and still copyright the image so that I can build my brand by placing my company name in the inside label.

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 21 May 2011 21:09:08 +0000

I have ideas for few different designs of t shirts that “parody” one very well known tv show that has a very recognizable logo.The logo has three words with 2 different colors inside and around a big circle.My idea is to use same colors,fonts and the same color circle,but each of the designs would have one or two changed or(variation) of the original words depending on which design it is.There is no vulgarity and no demeaning of the original logo or tv show whatsoever.Are there any problems in pursuing this or would it be advisable to have an attorney look at it?If so, would I need to protect myself in some sort of way before I even show it to an attorney?Thanks

By: rhea @ Movie t shirts

rhea @ Movie t shirts — Wed, 18 May 2011 08:17:41 +0000

nice post on this tee law

By: Katie

Katie — Sat, 14 May 2011 13:54:06 +0000

I’ve been tie dying t shirts and customising them with iron on patches for friends and family for a small price, just wondered if it’s legal?

By: Drew

Drew — Thu, 12 May 2011 05:24:59 +0000

I want to parody a specific movie character and paraphrase a line that appears in the movie and on a copyrighted t-shirt in print to gear it towards mountain biking. Do I have to use a drawing that is similar to the picture on the available t-shirt and modify the content to work for my needs, or can I use the real pic that is modified if it is a parody? I want to make sure I do this right just in case it becomes popular…

By: Bart Dirix

Bart Dirix — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 18:40:11 +0000

Hi can I get in trouble by using the logo of facebook? It is not the main feature on my Tshirt. This is a picture i made. But the slogan I use with it has the copy of facebook inserted in the text.

By: Bevy

Bevy — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 14:20:31 +0000

I designed a new shirt and sold about 50. I copyrighted the design. We expect to sell more. How will I know if someone else copies my images and recreates it somewhere else? Is it up to me to find out and then go after them legally?

By: Mike Witherington

Mike Witherington — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 05:49:36 +0000

I own the trademark for the term “Yeah Whatever” i have had shirts in TV shows and movies but it’s too much work for myself i want to license the TM, how do i find people or companies to license it from me?

By: Cory

Cory — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 19:55:37 +0000

Is it ok to use a brand name that you are trying to tell people not to use? Such as a t-shirt that says “Boycott Monsanto” or “Down with Cargill”?