Re: T-shirt resale

On Tue, Feb 16, 1999, Angela Putney <aputney[_at_]aip.org> wrote:
>
> On 02/12/99, Robert Cumbow <cumbr[_at_]perkinscoie.com> wrote:
> >
> > On Thu, Feb 11, 1999, Angela Putney <aputney[_at_]aip.org> wrote:
> > >
> > > I lived in the LA area for several years and noticed (I have not
> > > noticed this elsewhere to the same degree) that many of the Toyota
> > > pick-up trucks there have one or many of the letters removed from
> > > the back of the truck so that while driving behind one you read,
> > > "TOYOT," "TOY," "YO," etc. (Some have new letters added too, I've
> > > seen "YOYO".) Is this a derivative work?
> >
> > Of course the practice might invoke trademark law. But there would be
> > no infringement or unfair competition action unless the revised mark
> > were used in such a way as to confuse or deceive consumers as to the
> > actual source of the truck. Not likely.
>
> Okay, I'd buy that as an answer. So why is the T-shirt problem a
> copyright problem? Many of the T-shirts I see out there are really just
> vehicles for people to wear (read "free advertiement of") a trademark or
> servicemark or slogan (e.g., Nike and it's swoosh, perhaps with a "Just
> Do It")). So would it be all right, copyright-wise, for these people to
> write other phrases on the T-shirts with trademarks? Those T-shirts with
> pictures, cartoons, would violate copyright according to Mirage if
> written on and sold, it sounds like.

I think you can buy a t-shirt with someone's trademark on it and add anything you want to it, and wear it with pride.

But don't re-sell the altered version, and definitely don't do the same altertion to a whole bunch of shirts and re-sell all of them. (Which, I think, was the original question.)

Bob Cumbow
cumbr[_at_]perkinscoie.com
206-583-8566 Received on Wed Feb 17 1999 - 16:35:14 GMT