copyright infringement

[pspdfppdfx]

Just wondering...

Seems I can make a few bucks doing a project for my wife.

Well, the background: I've done a few personalized gifts using a magazine cover as the theme...for instance...People magazine with family pictures, fake stories, whatever, when I make a print, it looks like the people are on the cover for the magazine. Everyone loves them.

So my wife is in Hotel sales and works in the sports market. So, I can get a gig doing covers for hockey teams that have won the championship. I mean i could probably charge about 30 bucks a pop doing a custom cover for a team. Maybe we could sell 25. So we could make a few bucks profit but the problem is we'd be using a magazine template like "the hockey news" which is a licensed thing. Could I end up being sued for using this? Should I contact the company and find out the legal ramifications? Could I slightly alter the logo for the magazine and get away with it? Like "the hockey newz?" (reminds me of MAD magazine in the 70's).

what about "Sports Illustrated"? Could I call it "Sports Illustrator" using the EXACT logo but replacing the letters?

Just wondering, because this is turning into a family novelty non-profit kind of thing into a way to make some extra cash.

[Stiv]

I just searched and found a whole lot of them online.

Some have fake covers like Vague instead of Vogue. http://www.magmypic.com/

This one looks like it has real covers. http://www.fakemagazinecover.com/

I'd do it.

[Skryber]

I was told that if you change an image by 50%, then it is your image. Now, how you're going to determine what is 50% is the hard part. This is what a college professor told me but that was about 7-9 years ago. Maybe it's different now. Using the exact logo is a no no, even if you change the letters in the title. I'm unsure about only changing a few letters, but my guess is it would be okay, provided no one else has copyrighted the knockoff version.

[KappAdv]

I might be way off base on this but I thought if it was humor or done in jest it was OK.  I know when movie spoofs get made they rip off the real movie but make it funny and then they don't have to pay licensing fees and what not.

[frailer]

I might be way off base on this but I thought if it was humor or done in jest it was OK.  I know when movie spoofs get made they rip off the real movie but make it funny and then they don't have to pay licensing fees and what not.

Good point. We just printed a deck of playing cards, incorporating characters from a well-known fly-on-the-wall doco here about a yobbo family who had lotsa money. It was appalling and funny at the same time. CSR and I had a conversation; he ended up asking the GD if she had permission. Similar answer. "If it's done as satire/comedy...off the hook".     But...she wasn't 100% sure.
It's a grey area, IMO, and only fully tested if someone comes after ya!   

pspd, it would depend on how far these things will circulate. I doubt you'd be visible with the sort of stuff you're talking. Or do we read in a year's time you've made a squillion from this new idea? Or is that "New Idea"   

[DigitalCrapShoveler]

So if I print a $100 dollar bill with Ronald McDonald instead of Franklin, that's okay?

[youston]

So if I print a $100 dollar bill with Ronald McDonald instead of Franklin, that's okay?

I don't think that's a copyright issue. I think that issue is more of a 'federal pound-you-in-the-ass prison' kinda deal.

[DigitalCrapShoveler]

Yeah, I kinda thought so. The trick is... to kick fucking ass on your first day in the Penn.

[pspdfppdfx]

I did contact sports illustrated and they told me not to use their logo without their permission.

If i really want to go through with this "legally" then I will have to submit a business plan to them with samples, etc. then they will tell me how much I would have to pay them to use the logo. They said they have issued licsenses to people for this kind of thing before. If it was a percentage number say, 5% or so, it might be worthwhile but I don't think we'll generate a lot of money on this to pay a yearly cost (thousands of dollars, whatever) and they wouldn't tell me the details without making up the plan.

[frailer]

         

... and they wouldn't tell me the details without making up the plan.

   Covered by the late Joseph Heller in a certain very famous book, loosely based on his his WWII Air Force experiences in, I think, Corsica.   

[mattbeals]

Tread very lightly here. I don't think your use would be covered under "satire". You are better off asking for permission first in this instance. Brand owners tend to be *very* possessive and defensive about their brands. The old adage says something to the effect of "It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission". Well in this case saying "I'm sorry" could be very expensive. It's not worth it. I'd call and ask.

As for adding Ronald McDonald to a $100 bill that's a whole different issue. Yes, you can print your $100 bill but the "art" must follow a few rules as I recall them: 1) No green ink, not at all. 2) The art must be reduced to less than 75 percent or larger than 150 percent. 3)The printed "money" must only be printed on one side.

http://www.treas.gov/usss/money_illustrations.shtml

[Peon]

Beals has spoken, this thread is now complete.

[Stiv]

Stick a fork in it.

[Joe]

Tread very lightly here. I don't think your use would be covered under "satire". You are better off asking for permission first in this instance. Brand owners tend to be *very* possessive and defensive about their brands. The old adage says something to the effect of "It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission". Well in this case saying "I'm sorry" could be very expensive. It's not worth it. I'd call and ask.

As for adding Ronald McDonald to a $100 bill that's a whole different issue. Yes, you can print your $100 bill but the "art" must follow a few rules as I recall them: 1) No green ink, not at all. 2) The art must be reduced to less than 75 percent or larger than 150 percent. 3)The printed "money" must only be printed on one side.

http://www.treas.gov/usss/money_illustrations.shtml

Yeah, I think using something as "satire" like being in a skit of Saturday Night Live is different than using it without permission in a design even if you are just using it for satire. I agree, I'd ask before using it. The worst that can happen is they say no. If you use it without permission a lot more than that can happen.

[pspdfppdfx]

yes, good councel. (cousil? concil? counsel?)

Having a brain dead day!