PRINT ON DEMAND MASTERCLASS - TRADEMARKS & COPYRIGHT

If you're a print on demand artist, you need to deal with the confusing and often frustrating world of trademarks, copyrights and possibly getting your print on demand account banned. Whether it's Redbubble, Teepublic, Merch by Amazon or any of the others, getting a strike or getting banned is an awful feeling. In this tutorial, I walk through what trademark is, provide some examples and then do the same with copyright. Know your rights, what you can (and should do) and avoid those strikes!
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
03:28 Trademarks
05:27 Hand Drawn Designs
09:24 Weird Example #1
10:23 Weird Example #2
12:19 Checking Trademarks
14:01 Celebrity
15:26 Public Domain
18:22 Copyright
24:14 Copyright Strikes
Links:
www.rawpixel.com/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital...
help.redbubble.com/hc/en-us/a...
www.etsy.com/ca/legal/ip-dmca
www.teepublic.com/intellectua...
#zenwatercooler
#printondemand
#trademarks

[@evanmurnighan]

You actually made learning about copyright and trademark information fun! I recently discovered your two channels, and subbed to both. Love your sense of humor and appreciate everything you share!

[@elvis723]

I really appreciate the time and dedication that you put in your videos. This one is really important and very informative. Thank you!

[@jentroncale2085]

Super informative video. I also appreciate your humor/sarcasm/wit. Made it enjoyable as well.

[@scottgelb2650]

This was absolutely worth my time. I will be sharing the link with some FB groups I frequent.

[@CK-qe6cf]

This is a great breakdown & informative for those with no clue, if they keep it original none of the above will happen!!

[@quantumrelaxationstudio8434]

I am a new subscriber to your channel and I have to say that you are providing remarkable content. Thank you for your hard work and research

[@rapidric4445]

Alot of great basic information. even though I feel like I know copyright and trademark well you brought alot of interesting scenarios up that are very borderline an I think it reminds ppl 2 double check because there are little things that initially you may overlook that could cause many issues. definitely another very helpful an informative video. Thx!

[@ayoubzayyoun.]

Thank you a loot bro! You explained everything about the trademark and copyright!

[@JDbugoy]

I was learning and laughing at your videos at the same time, you can be a very good teacher! For sure I won’t fall asleep in your class 😂

[@FanfanLePrince]

very useful video. clean, to the point, without fluff. thanks

[@Ace2000]

Great content as always 👍❤️ Really appreciate it

[@pygod2223]

Extremely useful and instructive. 🧠

[@gdgm1]

Great vídeo like always. Thanks

[@plutobeliever]

Excellent overview,,,thanks

[@myriamebencherqui1212]

Thank you! Really helpful😊

[@ceruleanswim]

In the US you can copyright several images at once - for just one fee - as long as they are unpublished at the time of filing. The graphic artists guild handbook explains US law pretty well. Also, there is some debate over whether posting on social media is "publishing."

[@TheBushdoctor68]

Only 2k views on this video? See, THAT is why people get their schit banned. :) Incredibly valuable information and examples. Thank you sir.

[@do-user-6502]

Very informative I watched the whole video

[@MissMolly3377]

I think it is crazy that anyone could trademark one word, like Hulk. I can see sets of words, like Old Dutch, but one word? Thanks, Zen, I so appreciate your videos.

[@brian8431]

I'm actually thinking about it the opposite way. Lol I would think that trademarking a single word would be okay but not a grouping of words. But I think there should be limitations because that means that anybody can copyright or trademark a single word.

[@user-yl2jg6fq4m]

amazing video bro

[@baslielalene4702]

Thank you Zen.

[@brian8431]

What a great video, you explain things in a way that are very understandable. What I don't get is that there are actually people selling courses out there and not even that people on KZbin who teach and they teach that as long as you change up the design a little bit that it's okay to sell it. I could only assume that is why we always see so many duplicates of the same thing. I'm also curious about holidays. I mean there's only one way that you can say Happy mother's Day but yet there's tons of happy mother's Day shirts out there. They might just be redesigned or have a different type of flower on it but the wording is the same So how does that play into things?

[@zenwatercooler]

Good questions - the whole idea of trademark is "would an average consumer be confused". That's it. So if I take an ATARI logo and change it 1%, 10%, 50% - the percentage doesn't matter. It's a judgement call (by a judge if I get sued) if my design is infringing on a trademarked design. I'm not aware of any major holiday being trademarked. Those are great niches!

[@shannonsmith1885]

I designed a T-shirt with a VW Beetle on it. I didn't use the Volkswagen logo anywhere in the design it was just the classic bug. I didn't even tag the company or use the name in the title. Redbubble flagged it pretty much the instant I uploaded it. With all the obvious copywrite infringement going on, I was surprised that drawing a car on the beach would be an issue.

[@CK-qe6cf]

Try alter it in a way that doesn't come across as the original classic, you can be inspired about the 'Beetle' by adding a funky twist on the look itself💡

[@brian8431]

That's also a good question what about cars I was taught that as long as you don't use the actual logo of the car manufacturer that you can use images of cars?

[@deanc2000]

Individual words are very commonly trademarked. For example the words "read", "refuge", "foodie", and "world" are all trademarked. So does that mean I can not use these words in a phrase on my shirts? For example, "read books", or "best mom in the world", or "foodies love Prague", or "finding refuge". Please help because I am deactivating a lot of my listings now because of this issue. Any help will be appreciated.

[@darrinsmith2125]

I created a design using a VW Beetle in my design. I didn't use the Volkswagen logo anywhere in the design nor did I tag it or use it in the title. Redbubble flagged it pretty much instantly after I uploaded it. I didn't realise that using a classic car (I even drew it myself) would be a problem

[@callamstreet]

Just got one of my designs taken down and had no idea something as simple as "life is good" could be trademarked. Now i'm going through every single tag used in all my designs to be sure it doesn't happen again.

[@zenwatercooler]

Yes agreed, it is super annoying, especially when the design is clearly not anywhere close to the trademarked look and feel. I was reading about Hulk Hogan vs. The Incredible Hulk (Marvel) and apparently Marvel said that the word "Hulk" was confusing for customers. I don't know anyone who has ever seen Hulk Hogan and thought that was the green Incredible Hulk. I am glad I'm not a lawyer!

[@33afterM]

I'm autistic and smart and I think it's important to use more specific language. I don't expect you to say this, because it might come across in a mean way if you did, but really it's helpful for me to think about it this way... Not would the average consumer get confused... it's would the average Idiot / Dumb consumer be confused. I'm not even saying that in a mean way. I genuinely need to remind myself in that way, because that's kind of how the law sees it and also I just always assume people are smarter than they are and know things they don't and it's been really helpful to me to think in those terms. Like in your Pittsburgh Football example. I would think, "of course the average consumer wouldn't be confused" but if I think would a dumb person be confused I think, "ok, yeah maybe I guess so."

[@michelgerard8805]

Thank you for the video, it was very useful. I found that a couple of my designs will have to be corrected. I have a question, I am keen on making designs based on numerology, like 111, 222, 1212, etc... and I see that all of them have one or more trademark registered for each number. What do you think? Are numbers used like that on a shirt likely to get us into trouble?

[@zenwatercooler]

It's a great question and I agree, it is tough to know what is going to be flagged for a trademark violation on a site like Redbubble. Spider-Man is everywhere and meanwhile we are scared to use numbers (because we simply don't know what will be flagged). If you are using numbers only, then I would check the trademark to see what the number is that is trademarked (and why). So 13 for example is brand of stapler. So using 13 by itself (and not referencing a stapler) would not violate a trademark. However, if 13 Stapler trademark holder filed a notice to Redbubble, they would almost certainly take it down. So all I can say is do a best-faith effort to not actually rip off a trademarked company (like don't copy their colors and logo) and at least if you DO get a strike, you can contest it from a place of strength.

[@michelgerard8805]

@@zenwatercooler Thank you very much for taking the time to reply. This helps.

[@brian8431]

Wait how is it that somebody is allowed to copyright numbers? I don't exactly know what numerology is but numbers I don't see how anybody could contest that? I mean unless you're talking about a very specific number such as 1311 productions that is obviously a name of a production company so you wouldn't be able to use that but then what about if you wanted to use a number say for a birthday or a date what happens then?

[@Amy_ontheflipside]

Ty

[@DrMoni-de3dc]

what if i create a design or a funny joke like thing and i dont know [or didnt know] if someone already did it already what then ??

[@howardmathews5572]

A quick question please 🙏 if I search in the trademark website, for exampe, the word "hustle", Many results (phrases) will pop up that includes this word. But, if no result is solely "hustle", can I use it on a t-shirt? Just an example of course, like "elevate" and "savage" etc. If things like that aren't allowed on print on demand platforms, this is just sad.

[@zenwatercooler]

Even if the result WAS only Hustle, you could still use it in a shirt if the trademark was for something else. Trademarks are an identifiable brand. So there were Hustle neckties, Hustle spirits (alcohol), and Hustle clothing. The trademarks are abandoned so legally no one can prevent you from using the world. Hustle Con is a registered trademark: trademarks.justia.com/874/28/hustle-87428773.html. I recommend going through the trademarks and seeing if there is an active one specifically for clothing or products sold in your print-on-demand space.

[@bjgonz871]

I'm just trying to find out how does marvel and dc protect multiple characters. Do they keep paying new copyright or trademark fees for every new character created or could they create an infinite amount of characters because they're protected by their trademarked logo ?

[@zenwatercooler]

Yes Marvel and DC register trademarks for each individual superhero. Here's a list (there are literally thousands of registered trademarks): www.gerbenlaw.com/trademarks/entertainment/marvel/. Each one needs to be trademarked and it is in relation to genres (like clothing, toys, etc.). It's a massive legal endeavor!

[@lynnebizlyne436]

Trademark and copyright stuff is a lot to swallow but very necessary to be informed about. Exhaustive unfortunately.

[@micpic119]

I figured out the hard way that it is NOT impossible to steal from yourself. I opened a second RB store to separate two design styles and used two different shop names and emails as required. I believe I uploaded one of my original designs to the second store before deleting it from the first store. I guess the AI figured I was copying and suspended my store, appeal denied... Haha, that’ll teach me to copy myself. Nice business model.

[@brian8431]

Also what about animals and not even that what about mythological type animals such as Bigfoot, I see a lot of Bigfoot t-shirts out there and the other one from lake Champlain I forget its name the big lizard dragon thing, anyway I'm assuming that the animals themselves cannot be copyrighted just the saying that's on the shirt and the image and colors correct? Is that how that works

[@zenwatercooler]

Yes the combination of colors, images and text is what would constitute "intellectual property". So if you use Google's colors and font for example, they could get cranky. Or the NFL shield with the red/white/blue text, that would be infringing (in my opinion). But you can use animals. A good example is a t-shirt with a scarecrow, tin man and a lion on it. If they look exactly the same as the intellectual property of the MGM movie, that would be infringing. But you concept of a scarecrow is not infringing (you can even use the pictures from the original book as those are public domain).

[@soltantio]

It sounds like this video is to help you not steal other people's work. I would like to find more information on how to make sure I'm protecting mine from being stolen by somebody else. Do you have any videos on that or can anyone recommend any?

[@zenwatercooler]

I have a video on the other channel (Crafty Stax) that might be helpful (it is about digital artwork but some of the methods still apply): kzbin.info/www/bejne/oIbVqJ5nmNuMnaM

[@solenya6647]

Great video as always! I've been looking for a way to create cool designs without infringing on anyone's copyright/trademark, so I was going through Redbubble's featured artists, and one of them is called AleMogolloArt. His art is great, however, he only draws famous people, either actors themselves, or characters/scenes from movies.. how does he get away with it AND stay featured on RB? Everything is drawn by him as far as I can tell, there are no photographs, but you can clearly tell who the celebrity is. The only thing I noticed was that he never uses the names of celebrities/movies in either the titles or the tags, his titles are very abstract like "Witch" or "Tomorrow" and he even has a Wonder Woman drawing! If you say 90% of RB is regulated by robots, is this how he can keep swimming under the radar? EDIT: My bad, he's not featured, but he's a "top artist" and has a "fan artist" badge. Is that something you apply for, or get permission for? I didn't know about those badges

[@zenwatercooler]

Yes they are skirting the Redbubble robots by not tagging the designs with trademark infringing tags like "Wonder Woman". They have "LC Print" instead of Linda Carter. You are bang on - that is how they are getting past the robot. I would definitely not recommend this course of action - unfortunately it is up to the celebrity or movie rights holder to lodge a DMCA complaint. I guess to each their own (80,000+ followers!). Yes the "Fan Artist" badge comes from doing actual legit trademarked art: www.redbubble.com/partner-program. So at least one of them is legal anyways!

[@CyberDagger003]

@@zenwatercooler I have to wonder how you manage to get sales using that method. How are people going to find your Wonder Woman shirt if it doesn't show up on searches?

[@aaronyoung8716]

except kiss is in the fan art. you can do kiss under the rules and regulations that is.

[@luzgiraldo2468]

I have a question. If I clean up an antique automobile, can I use the name of the manufacturer, say Ford, with the model and date of production? Would it be copyright or trademark infringement? Thanks

[@zenwatercooler]

That's a great question - if I understand correctly, you are cleaning up a picture of an antique automobile (not the car itself)? My understanding is that using the word "Ford" and/or the logo would be a violation of trademark. The question is whether an average consumer would be confused by your print and think it is a licensed product (which it is not).

[@luzgiraldo2468]

@@zenwatercooler So I should just put the model and the date of production and take out the brand name. So instead of putting Pontiac Model 1932, I would only put the year of production? Thanks

[@thepostlimsshow6434]

I started my shirt company on ebay with printful. Can someone tell me if this was a good idea? and Help me out a bit with advice? I could really use the help! Thank you!

[@zenwatercooler]

It can definitely be a good strategy - here is a vid I did about it, hopefully that helps! kzbin.info/www/bejne/f3q6l2eZgs2Kg6s

[@Melons_Cougarcamp]

Now I'm craving Old Dutch chips 🤣

[@user-ss1kv1qk6w]

how does it work for a saying or words on a shirt

[@zenwatercooler]

If the saying is trademarked, then I would recommend avoiding the use of it!

[@aaronyoung8716]

Omg I miss the old dutch chips they do have them where I am in America love there chips I guess I am a true Canadian boy lol. Lived there most my life until I met my wife and moved to the States.

[@DrMoni-de3dc]

if i [kinda copy] someones joke will a problem ??

[@zenwatercooler]

No, the only time it would be a problem is if you exactly copy someone’s design, or you use a trademarked property. Otherwise, you are suggesting a great strategy!

[@TheWorldisSoDivided]

Canada RB is so expensive.

[@bjgonz871]

I guess marvel is suing the aircompressor company because they could have used any color in the world but they chose green which associated with their character. Hulk hogan has red and yellow and has his name after. They just used hulk with green paint

[@HECTORJABUNDISJR]

i would like to see your redbubble Shop

[@zenwatercooler]

Why?

[@HECTORJABUNDISJR]

@@zenwatercooler to support you and buy one of your merch

[@auradkhan5065]

23:38 LMAO

[@Bob-The-Guy]

I believe your copyright registration is only good in the country of registration.

[@effortcivilengineersinteri3784]

H- how'd you know i uploaded 100 designs and laying in bed and its 2 am!?

[@shivrajs1529]

Can i get jail for trademark

[@OnurKAFALI]

yes, may be!