What is copyright?

Let’s start with the obvious question: what exactly is copyright?  To give a broad, technical definition, it’s the proprietorship of a specific piece work; the proprietor(s) owns the right to distribute, commercialize, replicate and profit from it in any other way.

In short, if a design is copyrighted, don’t included in your Product. Only the owner of that exclusive design has the authorization to monetize it. This doesn’t just go for t-shirt designs; any written, visual, even verbal content, have potential to fall under the copyright law.

Now, if you love a design that’s proprietary, you don’t need to trash the idea completely. Use the copyrighted design as inspiration to come up with an even better concept for your Product.

What is considered off-limits when creating t-shirt designs?

• Logos of sports teams, schools and universities, organizations, clubs, movies, books, games and bands.
• Pictures or artwork of sports teams, schools and universities, organizations, clubs, movies, books, games and bands.
• Characters from movies, books, comics and television shows.
• Viral Content such a memes and YouTube videos.
• Images found on search engines or any other image that is not listed for commercial use.
• Trademark companies and their logos, names and content.
• Celebrities exploited in any way, even if you created original content.

We know, it seems like there’s so many limitations when you’re simply trying to come up with a design for your Product . Don’t let these limitations hold you back. There is still plenty of room for creative opportunity. You just need to think outside of the box!

What design can I legally add to my Product?

While certain designs are off-limits, there are countless designs that are available for commercial use as well. We recommend using any of the following methods when designing for your Product.

• Royalty free images that are for commercial use
• Public Domain images
• Your original designs

What is the public domain?

The public domain is a collection of creative material that is not protected under the copyright law. Everything is available for public use. Content existing in the public domain is either donated content, expired copyright content, or content that has been forfeited in some way. There are thousands of great t-shirt design ideas within the public domain. If you have an idea that you want to bring to life, start looking there!

Although the public domain is a helpful resource, all public content has the potential to become copyrighted.  Yes, everything is fair-game, but that doesn’t mean content can’t become copyrighted down the road. It’s unlikely that one of your Product’s design will suddenly fall under the copyright law, but it’s important to be aware of the possibility.

How can I check to see if something is copyrighted online?

You found the perfect graphic for your Product, but you’re not sure if it’s copyrighted. How do you know what to do? Here are a few simple tricks to help determine whether an image falls under the copyright law.

Look for the signs

• There is the © symbol. The copyright symbol is usually tiny and located somewhere around the perimeter of an image or graphic.
• There is a watermark.
• There is a note representing ownership sourcing.

Do a little research

• Visit the copyright office to browse through copyrighted files.
• Check an image copyright online. Perform a reverse image search to reveal the original source of an image.

The obvious

• • It’s not yours and you didn’t create it.
  • Just ask! The best way to get copyright information is from the source itself.

It’s also helpful to be informed on how fair-use is assessed. Each copyright license is different, so it’s important to consider the restrictions and guidelines that follow. Just remember, until you’re certain an image isn’t copyrighted, don’t take the risk of adding it to your Shop.

Are quotes protected by copyright?

People are attracted to quotes and sayings because they affect us on an emotional level. That’s why t-shirt designs with quotes are often customer’s top Priority. Quotes are free to be used commercially when you think of them yourself. However, things get a bit tricky when using quotes from copyrighted pieces of work.

We don’t want to bore you with the complicated legal details, so we’ve put together a list of do’s and don’ts for t-shirt quotes.

Do Quote:

• Anything from the public domain
• Authors who have been dead for over 70 years
• Common sayings
• Sayings that are too short to be protected by the copyright law
• Parodies
• Your own thoughts and sayings

Don’t Quote

• Anything from a living author
• Anything from an author who’s been deceased for less than 70 years
• Trademarked material
• Corporate slogans
• Scripted or literary works of art