legal question?

PowermacG4_450

OS X Jaguar
anyone heard of cafepress.com?

where you put your own pictures, artwork on tshirts then sell em.

question:

If I take a picture of a mac (taken by me, or another person from the net), put it on a shirt, and sell, and I breaking the law?

thanks.

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http://www.artieevans.com
The Mac site for "the rest of us".
 
Hi

Haven't heard of that site, but i know of some others, ie www.deviantart.com for example.

As for the legal issues, I'm sure it is illegal, but it depends on what copyright terms there are, much like software ie freeware etc. Check out the sites terms and conditions.

You could also get in touch with the author of the work if you want to do the right thing.

You could also just do it and make sure there is no way of any comeback – thats the risk.

But I'm speaking from a New Zealand perspective so it may differ elsewhere.

Cheers

eric
 
actually to tell you the truth, most off the apple tshirts you see have absolutly nothing to di with apple all that apple makes is staff clothing...

(thats what the guy from apple told me last year @ the expo)
 
If you take it yourself, it IS legal, and YOUR photograph would be protected under copyright law.

http://www.copyright.gov/faq.html#q58

The only thing you can't photograph and use would be another photograph someone else took, as that would be no different than photocopying a novel. It's the work (eg the photograph or book or painting) that's copyrightable, not the subject (your mac, a pond with waterlilies, the vietnam war, elvis, etc)

Try taking a camera into a museum sometime... they have no problem with you taking any pictures... until you enter the photography display... there you can't even have someone take your picture between a couple of photos.
 
The Apple logo is a ™. It's a protected work. If you take a photo of it you reproduce this logo. But that's still in France.
 
trademark != copyright
by the rule you're noting, a journalist couldn't take a photo at an apple convention, or for that matter, any business event

if he took a photo of his mac, he could sell that.
If he took an image of a mac off of Apple's website, he couldn't, because that would violate the copyright of the photographer. Trademark doesn't enter into this. Of course, I'm in the states. Maybe we shouldn't give the RIAA & company any more ideas.
 
sounds like I can take a picture of my mac, but on a tshirt. Sell, and be legal? I'll try that until someone tells me otherwise. :)

thanks.
 
Originally posted by lionsweb
trademark != copyright
if he took a photo of his mac, he could sell that.

Not in France. Though this law is never applied until you make 5 millions T Shirts and create a company and make profits and then buy Time Warner Turner and then ... ;)

I had understood you wanted to sell the Tee Shirts. That's why I was telling you all of it is illegal.

In brief, in France:

You can take the picture and stick it on your chest.
You can't sell the T Shirt nor ditribute it.

Nevertheless, law is rarely applied in France as far as this kind of petty thievery is concerned.
 
Most likely what happens in copyright infringements is a lawyer will contact you telling you that you are infringing o a copyright and tell you to knock it off or be sued, usually giving you the opportunity to pull the product and save your @$$ from bankrupcy. Unless you have sold thousands of dollars worth of this infringed copyright then you are in a liitle more trouble because then the company usually wants a chunk of that change.
 
So just get your Mac on the shirt and forget about selling the whole with little doses of coccaine. The shirt is fine, the rest is not really recommended :D
 
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