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

By: Mae

Mae — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 15:41:23 +0000

This is a great site. I was wondering if there’s a legal issue to use a famous persons name in a poem or a book, if the person was born in the 1800′s? Thanks

By: Lauren

Lauren — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:31:54 +0000

Is it legal to sell a t-shirt with your states “soon to be” motto? We created the t-shirt online from sracth but want to sell it to the public? My husband and I want to sell them and make a profit. Are we considered a business if we do this? Is there any type of license or anything we need. We just creativly thought about this last night and want to get started.

By: Dude

Dude — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 21:13:11 +0000

Say I draw a really awesome picture. Can I iron that on to a t-shirt if it is all my own work? even if it is a popular t.v show. Oh and i’m just planning to wear it for me not selling

By: Brandon

Brandon — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 18:55:05 +0000

I know someone who gets brand name surf and skate shirts like hurley and others for a few dollars each. He buys in bulk from a liquidator. Can we get in trouble/sued for selling on our online store since we didn’t buy directly from the brand? The are all legit with tags and not rip offs (overprints & last years clothing that they didn’t sell).

By: boobar

boobar — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 08:42:25 +0000

Images from the internet are usually protected by copyright, unless their from a non-photographer’s photo album or something

This statement is incorrect. Any photograph is copyright to the person that took it (unless they have sold the rights to another party), regardless of whether they are a photographer or not. Aunty mavis’s snapshots from her phone on facebook are just as copyrighted as Baron Wolmans images of Hendrix

By: Brown

Brown — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:33:20 +0000

For example: if I want to make T-Shirts with Albert Einstein pictures and quotes where do i get permission for it?

By: Dani Bo

Dani Bo — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:47:49 +0000

A few friends and I recently thought about selling shirts of a phrase we often say. We drew up a logo and all fell in love with our new business idea. We started doing our research and found out there is a band on tour that had used the exact phrase we were going to TM/patent as one of their album names, and also had a book made with that same phrase as the title. I’ve searched on uspto.gov to see if the phrase was patented and nothing showed up. We are trying not to lose hope, but would this completely put our idea on hold??? I definitely do not want to get into legal trouble with the group! Our phrase, by the way, has nothing at all to do with the band and has a completely different meaning and brand to it completely.

Any advice would be AMAZING
Thanks!!

By: tum

tum — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 21:23:21 +0000

What if you want to put the name of someone famous on a t-shirt?
Like I heart Gaga or something?

By: jose Cienfurgos

jose Cienfurgos — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:07:07 +0000

please please answer this is urgent….is it legal to print the outline of the state of California on a t shirt??????I’m about to do these t shirts next week but still don’t know if this is legal…i really like the design with California but if its illegal ill take it off..

By: Vern Lindsey

Vern Lindsey — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:11:04 +0000

Does anyone have a invoice/contract one-sheeter they would be willing to share? I volunteer for SCORE (retired executives who mentor new or small businesses. I have a clinet who is starting a T-Shirt business that needs one to go by to make up his.

By: Jose C

Jose C — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:12:59 +0000

hey im starting my own business too….but i just have a question…is it legal to print the state of california outline on a t shirt???

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?