copyrights

[A-19]

hey all,

like age, i have run into similar problems with use of copyrights, specifically for the proposed t-shirts. i spoke to the vendor and cornell's bob reese on the phone, and i need to get approval from CU and Harvard if we are going to proceed with getting the shirts printed with their current design. If I can get this approval, it would save me some paperwork to exchange the shirts in an area other than Lynah, due to use of university property forms.

i am in the process of trying to secure the copyright approvals from both schools. if my request is denied, we could always come up with another shirt idea that does not use harvard's name (hopefully cornell wouldn't have a problem endorsing a fan-sponsored shirt, but you never know.) i guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. thank you to everyone who has expressed interest in the shirts thus far. i will keep you updated on my progress with copyrights etc. as new information comes in.

-mike

[tml5]

Another option might be to replace the official school names with non-copyrighted nicknames.  You might even be able to get away with Red @ Crimson.

Cornell is known as The Big Red Tape for a reason - although I don't know whether or not they'll deny your request, I *do* know that the ultimate team had some trouble getting "Cornell Ultimate" shirts (just shirts for sale, as opposed to the actual jerseys, from what I understand) because of the copyright issues.  I think the problem was not permission but time - it would take too long for the University to process the request to get the shirts in a reasonable amount of time.

Didn't someone print up a Cornell/Harvard shirt with a Love Story reference?  Talk about copyrighted material. . .

Maybe you just need to find a less scrupulous printer.  

[Adam \'01]

Dude, just find a shady t-shirt maker at the mall or out of Ithaca or something.  A lot of t-shirt makers will do anything for a buck.

[Jim Hyla]

Or you could do what I did on my license plate and substitute a 0 (zero) for the o. In fact, I wonder if the person with the true CORNELL1 plate got approval from CU.

[A-19]

thanks for the support. as i stated, i was basically threatened with lawsuits from both universities. reps from cornell and harvard have e-mailed me in the past day, and i responded with a request for use of the names. if someone else wants to get these printed, i would be happy to buy a few. but being that i am now actually aware of the copyright laws, and have been threatened with 2 lawsuits, i'm not about to go dashing to print illegal shirts.

out of curiosity, for the prelaw (and JD) alumni, what responsibilities do i have in obtaining a copyright, versus the responsibilities of the vendor? if a "seedy" vendor were to print something without requesting a copyright, does this become my fault if i were to sell the shirts (off campus/shipping)? i was under the impression that i am responsible, even if some vendor doesn't ask for a notice of copyright approval (which deters me from getting them printed in this way). am i correct?

-mike

[A-19]

Additionally,

what is the legality in using:

C0RNELL (0 instead of O)
H@rvard

if I cannot get approval?

-mike

[nshapiro]

If you are going to corrupt Harvard (sucks)...I much prefer Hahvahd (still sucks no matter how you spell it).

[Al DeFlorio]

Is "corrupt Harvard" a redundancy? ::nut::

[nshapiro]

either redundant or a fait accompli

[Beeeej]

Assume that I know how to write a disclaimer that sufficiently informs you that I'm only offering my opinion and you shouldn't construe it as legal advice, and that I put such a disclaimer right here.  Okay, good.

The printer is merely covering his own ass when he reminds you of the requirement to obtain permission to use copyrighted and trademarked materials on a shirt and/or refuses to print such a job without you obtaining permission.  In my view - the fact a printer doesn't remind you of that requirement doesn't tend to save you from any consequences of using that material without permission.  The situation would fall pretty squarely under the "ignorance of the law is no excuse" category, IMHO.

As for "C0rnell" and "H@rvard" - the copyright and trademark owners could probably make a very strong argument that it was obvious enough to you and your potential customers what those words were intended to reprepsent that you're infringing upon their intellectual property even though you spelled the words wrong.

"CornHell" and "Hahvahd," on the other hand, might allow you to argue that you're safe under the category of parody.  But Cornell and Harvard could, and would, answer that claim by showing that you had originally planned to print the shirts using the correct names, and all you really intended to do with the misspellings was save yourself from the permissions process (or if permission was denied, attempt to save yourself from potential lawsuits).

That's the opinion of a JD candidate, and worth every single penny you've paid for it.

Beeeej

[A-19]

i am currently waiting on t-shirt approval from harvard. i was told that cornell will not endorse the shirts unless harvard does so first.

if harvard is unwilling to endorse the shirts, i will ask about them about the legality of hahvahd, h@rvard, etc. of course, then we would have to edit "cornell" out as well. in speaking to bob reese and mr gutenberg in cornell administration this morning, c0rnell is also a violation. CU and Big Red are trademarked as well. oh, and since the website is hockey.CORNELL.edu, it was brought to my attention that even if I made a t-shirt, I am not able to advertise it on the university server.

we should be lucky we are even allowed to say the college's name on campus.

-mike

[CowbellGuy]

You can put a page on my off-campus server advertising it with a link to the page here if you want :-D

[Ben Doyle 03]

Are you telling me of all the other CU's out there. . .Cornell owns the right to the use of the phrase "CU."

WoW. . .it's good to know our money is going to places that really matter.
(I wonder if Clarkson knows about this. . .they may owe Cornell some royalties)

[kaelistus]

So this means that that shirt (formerly?) sold in collegetown with all the Ivys and why Cornell was better got permission from all 8 schools?? Wow!

Note: despite my previous rant I'm not mad a Cornell for this particular thing. I do believe this is a valid trademark concern unlike the bear.

[CowbellGuy]

Actually, they had a version of that shirt for each ivy and it is legal.