Copyright query
Discussion
Hi,
A family member is a very talented graphic designer @ the age of 16 and I was looking into helping him get established and get his work seen a bit more.
He wants to ideally make T Shirts/Hats/Jumpers with his work printed onto them - I know it is a fairly "done" idea but he is young and looking to get started small. His work is very good and I'm confident it will sell if marketed correctly, but here lies my issue.
He makes graphic designs of Celebrity Faces, TV Show characters and Movie characters/Movie themes. So for example he may have one with a Heisenberg face on it, or perhaps one with a Terminator on it.
I wanted to know, if we do proceed with this plan, are we breaking any laws by putting HIS graphic work (Yes, of celebrities/TV/Movie) onto clothing and selling them via platforms like eBay/Amazon etc?
I couldn't find much on this so if anyone has any guidance, please advise.
A family member is a very talented graphic designer @ the age of 16 and I was looking into helping him get established and get his work seen a bit more.
He wants to ideally make T Shirts/Hats/Jumpers with his work printed onto them - I know it is a fairly "done" idea but he is young and looking to get started small. His work is very good and I'm confident it will sell if marketed correctly, but here lies my issue.
He makes graphic designs of Celebrity Faces, TV Show characters and Movie characters/Movie themes. So for example he may have one with a Heisenberg face on it, or perhaps one with a Terminator on it.
I wanted to know, if we do proceed with this plan, are we breaking any laws by putting HIS graphic work (Yes, of celebrities/TV/Movie) onto clothing and selling them via platforms like eBay/Amazon etc?
I couldn't find much on this so if anyone has any guidance, please advise.
What about showing off his imagination and producing original works on T-shirts?
Avoid the celeb and quick-to-date pop culture stuff (Rhianna - is she still/was she ever relevant?) and create unique clothing that only he could have done, rather than anyone with access to Google and Illustrator.
A friend of mine did exactly this a year or two ago; got the local press involved, nice free publicity and now he's a multi-millionaire*.
He's not, but it's a nice little sideline for beer money.
Avoid the celeb and quick-to-date pop culture stuff (Rhianna - is she still/was she ever relevant?) and create unique clothing that only he could have done, rather than anyone with access to Google and Illustrator.
A friend of mine did exactly this a year or two ago; got the local press involved, nice free publicity and now he's a multi-millionaire*.
He's not, but it's a nice little sideline for beer money.
Jeebz92 said:
I couldn't find much on this so if anyone has any guidance, please advise.
If his talent is to simply put a photo of a celeb into Photoshop, add a filter, and claim that it is "art", then he has a problem. With the copyright holder of the photograph, not so much the celeb.If he is painting or illustrating the image from scratch, whether digitally on a computer, or using traditional media, then he is probably OK, providing that the "celeb" has not registered their "likeness", as many have.
If he's basing his images on photographs of the "celebs", then he had better be very careful.
If you are serious about advising and encouraging his "business", then get proper advice from a suitably qualified (in copyright) solicitor.
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