Copyright Question

[WDW LOVR]

I'm not sure what board this belongs on but.....

My wife and I are going to the F+W festival and would like to make a couple of novelty tee shirts for the occasion.

Are there any copyright problems if we put " 2006 Food and Wine Festival" on them? We aren't planning on having Epcot mentioned anywhere and there would be no Disney pictures or symbols at all, just Food and Wine or bust kinds of sayings. We're only making a couple for our personal use and not selling them to anyone else.

Any lawyers out there?

Thanks.

 

[JRawkSteady]

As long as you don't use their fonts, there shouldn't be any problem...but even if you did, as long as you're not selling them or portraying it in a negative way, Disney won't care.

 

[Bill From PA]

Scott,

Ditto the previous answer, but why not PM Tim/Hawk, the resident R&C lawyer?

Bill

 

[WDW LOVR]

Bill.....Never even thought of it, but you guys have confirmed what I was thinking already.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[amy4bruce]

I'm not a lawyer, but I did play one once in a community theatre. (Actually it was a judge in Ten Little Indians, but never mind.) However, I did work for years in publishing.

Two things about this -

As long as you are not attempting to make a profit from the shirts, this could be called Fair Usage, and you can get away with it.

Titles are not copyrightable. As I said on another thread, you could right a book about a tornado hitting New York City and legally call it Gone With the Wind, so long as you don't try to convince people it's the book by Margaret Mitchell. 2006 Food and Wine Festival is not copyrighted. It might be trademarked, but that would be with the actual logo, so as long as it doesn't say that, you could be referring to any old 2006 Fod and Wine Festival.

Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, and this isn't legal advice. Do check with someone. I think I'm right, but I could easily be wrong.

 

[Robo]

Titles are not copyrightable. As I said on another thread, you could right a book about a tornado hitting New York City and legally call it Gone With the Wind, so long as you don't try to convince people it's the book by Margaret Mitchell. 2006 Food and Wine Festival is not copyrighted. It might be trademarked, but that would be with the actual logo, so as long as it doesn't say that, you could be referring to any old 2006 Fod and Wine Festival.

Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, and this isn't legal advice. Do check with someone. I think I'm right, but I could easily be wrong.

You are correct.

That's why Disney goes to great lengths to "coin" propietary words like, "IllumiNations", Spectromagic", "Fantasmic!", and "Epcot" that CAN be trademarked/copyright protected for use in connection only to Disney.

There are scores of "Food and Wine Festivals" (many of which will take place in 2006.)

"Titles" of books and movies cannot be copyrighted.
That's why you see so many RIP-OFF cheapy animated home videos with the same names as Disney films, like "The Legend of Mulan" and the dozens of versions of "Peter Pan" (which Disney didn't "own" to begin with).
But nobody else can, of course, call it, " 'Disney's' Legend of Mulan," so that's a further protection.

 

[JRawkSteady]

By that logic, would I be able to make a shirt that says... for example:

"I went on Mission: Space and didn't need the barf bag"? or "I stayed awake in the Hall of Presidents" or "I <3 Brer Rabbit"?

The titles of their attractions and characters are used, but without the logos, that would be completely legal, correct?

 

[Robo]

By that logic, would I be able to make a shirt that says... for example:

"I went on Mission: Space and didn't need the barf bag"? or "I stayed awake in the Hall of Presidents" or "I <3 Brer Rabbit"?

The titles of their attractions and characters are used, but without the logos, that would be completely legal, correct?

Don't use the : (colon) in Mission Space.

The name "Brer Rabbit" is not a Disney creation in the first place, but he's not a TITLE, he is a character.

"Hall of Presidents" as a PHRASE, is not trademarked, but as an ATTRACTION it may very well BE.

And you COULD certainly be sent a "cease and desist" letter and be taken to court. Anyone can sue anyone else for just about anything.

That's why our courts are OVERFLOWING.

 

[JRawkSteady]

hmm... by the way I'm not actually making those shirts - I was just pondering. I mean, basically you could make ANYTHING if it's for your own self and you're not selling them. Copyright is such a touchy subject.

 

[Robo]

hmm... by the way I'm not actually making those shirts - I was just pondering. I mean, basically you could make ANYTHING if it's for your own self and you're not selling them.

Well, no.

Remember the famous case of the daycare center that painted Disney characters on their walls... and Disney sued them for it?

Many thought Disney should have just "left them alone, they weren't hurting anybody."

And that would SEEM logical.
However... there are no "Copyright Police" (per se) that generally go around and stop people from using copyrighted materials.
The law says that its up to the OWNER of the copyright to take the steps necessary to keep the work(s) from being used without permission.

FURTHERMORE, if an "owner" (in this case, Disney) does NOT take the proper steps to protect these properties... at some point, they can slip into "PUBLIC DOMAIN" (nobody "owns" them anymore).

So, do you think Disney MIGHT just want to keep, say, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Ariel, Cinderella (as they appear in the Disney films), et al, as their exclusive copyrighted works?
If so, they must enforce their ownership themselves to do so.
No, they don't send out their own "goons" to rough up violators, but they can enlist the help of law enforcement to stop the violations, if they can prove the infractions.

 

[kaybird]

Well, no.

Remember the famous case of the daycare center that painted Disney characters on their walls... and Disney sued them for it?

Many thought Disney should have just "left them alone, they weren't hurting anybody."

And that would SEEM logical.
However... there are no "Copyright Police" (per se) that generally go around and stop people from using copyrighted materials.
The law says that its up to the OWNER of the copyright to take the steps necessary to keep the work(s) from being used without permission.

FURTHERMORE, if an "owner" (in this case, Disney) does NOT take the proper steps to protect these properties... at some point, they can slip into "PUBLIC DOMAIN" (nobody "owns" them anymore).

So, do you think Disney MIGHT just want to keep, say, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Ariel, Cinderella (as they appear in the Disney films), et al, as their exclusive copyrighted works?
If so, they must enforce their ownership themselves to do so.
No, they don't send out their own "goons" to rough up violators, but they can enlist the help of law enforcement to stop the violations, if they can prove the infractions.

Actually, the daycare business WAS using Disney to try to make a profit. The characters painted on the walls were outside, the inference being that it was being used as name recognition. Don't think they could let it go as it would have create a precedence for larger chain operated businesses.

Make your shirts.

 

[Robo]

Actually, the daycare business WAS using Disney to try to make a profit. The characters painted on the walls were outside, the inference being that it was being used as name recognition. Don't think they could let it go as it would have create a precedence for larger chain operated businesses.

Make your shirts.

Of COURSE they can make the shirts.
(That's what I SAID earlier.)

But now that you brought THAT up again...

"2006 Food and Wine Festival" is quite different than saying
"2006 'EPCOT' Food and Wine Festival" and THAT's where one COULD get in trouble. (I doubt it... but it IS treading on thinner ice.)

>>>>>>>>>

And MAKING a PROFIT does NOT have ANYTHING to do with copyright.

Churches and public schools are frequently sued for copying sheet music and performing songs without regard to the copyright holder.
Otherwise, those holders (who actually are in business to SERVE those entities) would have no recourse when folks just "pilfered" their livelihood.

 

[amy4bruce]

And MAKING a PROFIT does NOT have ANYTHING to do with copyright.

Churches and public schools are frequently sued for copying sheet music and performing songs without regard to the copyright holder.
Otherwise, those holders (who actually are in business to SERVE those entities) would have no recourse when folks just "pilfered" their livelihood.

Although doesn't the fact that illegal copies are being made of an item adversely impact the profitability of the items for the owners?

Therefore, although the churches and schools aren't making a profit, neither are the people trying to sell the items.

It's looking at the same thing from a different direction. That's my theory, anyway, and I'm sticking to it.

(And, Robo, thanks for all the information.)

 

[mking624]

Of COURSE they can make the shirts.
(That's what I SAID earlier.)

But now that you brought THAT up again...

"2006 Food and Wine Festival" is quite different than saying
"2006 'EPCOT' Food and Wine Festival" and THAT's where one COULD get in trouble. (I doubt it... but it IS treading on thinner ice.)

This is very true...just saying "2006 Food and Wine Festival" should be fine...being that Disney is not the only place in the world that offers an annual F&WF. In fact, I found some in Charleston, Fredricksburg, Cape May, Australia, New Zealand, etc. And they actually call it a "Food and Wine Festival." So Disney can't claim copyright violation for that alone...because others use the same term. Now adding "Epcot" to the shirt is where it begins to cross the line.

 

[PoohHappens]

We have made T-shirts for our past trips, even putting images of disney characters on it as well as names of shows, restaurants, parks etc on it. I did not think I was doing anything wrong as I was not selling this. I guess maybe I was wrong. I am still not sure reading this. It kind of looked like a concert tour shirt on the back listing where we were going or doing on different dates.

 

[Robo]

We have made T-shirts for our past trips, even putting images of disney characters on it as well as names of shows, restaurants, parks etc on it. I did not think I was doing anything wrong as I was not selling this. I guess maybe I was wrong. I am still not sure reading this. It kind of looked like a concert tour shirt on the back listing where we were going or doing on different dates.

I wouldn't WORRY about it, but TECHNICALLY Disney COULD contest it.
But, I don't think they WOULD.
(But with the easy ability of copying things on computers... things CAN get sticky.
Let's not forget that the music companies finally DID start suing indvidual downloaders.