A Guide To The Ethics Of Printing Quotes On Custom T-Shirts
Custom t-shirt printing is quite a popular form of expression today. You can have a catchy and attractive t-shirt using our same-day t-shirt printing service in Vancouver.
If you are into custom t-shirt printing, then one of the questions that have undoubtedly crossed your mind is whether you should add a quote to your design. Designers and printers of custom t-shirts are always careful when using trademarks in printed apparel.
This is a good practice for designers and t-shirt printers, and it ensures that intellectual property laws are not violated during the screen printing process.
As experts of custom t-shirt printing, we think of all the factors that will impact the process of using quotes in a custom t-shirt, whether you are getting it printed for personal use or whether you are going to be selling it. We carefully check if we are breaking any copyright laws before printing any design.
As a customer planning to get an apparel item printed, you need to have a basic understanding of intellectual property laws. This is because intellectual property laws are essential as they protect artists and their creations from being misused and mishandled, during or after their lifetime.
Breaking these laws can get you into serious trouble, and you might even end up in court. If a certain item is defined as intellectual property, even if it is for the personal use of the customers, we are still not allowed to print anything that falls under copyright laws since we get paid for our services. If you have any questions regarding t-shirt printing and quotes, you can always reach BlueSky T-shirts.
What To Know When Doing Custom T Shirt Printing Canada
Let’s take a look at what intellectual property is. It is defined as creations of the mind, such as literary creations or art, signs, names, and pictures used in a commercial setting. Intellectual property rights were brought into being in the 19th century to counter the problem associated with the right to profit from creations. They also define to which extent these creations can be covered under intellectual property rights.
The World Intellectual Property Organization administers the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These rights give more space for creativity to flourish in the world.
The words “trademark”, “copyright” and “service mark” all usually mean the same thing to most people, but the truth is that there is a vast difference between them. They are all types of intellectual property protection, but they are applicable to different types of media. As an example, a trademark has the ability to indicate that a specific party was producing a particular item.
It protects a certain product. In addition, it can also be set up under common law if it is constantly used for commercial activities. A service mark indicates a service such as car manufacturing or producing a food item. Copyright protects the intellectual property rights of creations such as books, songs or films.
It covers the media that is used for advertising the product (such as a catchphrase or slogan). Once a creation is established, copyright law is automatically brought into being. Under copyright, the work remains under protection as long as the creator is alive, and 70 years more if the work is published as an individual. If the work is published under a pseudonym or anonymously, it is protected for 120 years after it is created, or for 95 years after it is published.
Can Quotes Use On Custom T-shirt Printing
Our main question is whether quotes can be used in custom t-shirt printing. Although published creations are protected under copyright, ideas are not protected as such. For example, something during a conversation does not come under copyright. However, the copyright remains if the person is repeating something from creative work in a speech.
There is no problem with you using a quote if it is something that has been in the public domain. Once a creation’s copyright expires, it then becomes public domain, and intellectual property laws no longer apply to these.
If documentation mentions that it exists in the public domain, you can print it on a t-shirt using custom t-shirt printing. The public domain is expanding every year. In 2022, works of artists like Agatha Christie and Ernest Hemingway were added to the public domain.
Creations or works that are produced to be used in parody, review or critique have some exceptions when it comes to copyright laws.
Here, the creator runs the risk of the holder of copyright attempting to object or challenge the usage of their creation in their creations. The argument that a work should be used in a fair-use defense is overcome if the copyright-protected product is used in order to earn money.
Since parodies are subjective, it is possible that you might face legal ramifications after having used the copyright-protected works.
For a work to fall under the category of copyright protected, it needs to have a certain amount of creativity within it, so you can use short expressions and sentences. National anthems do not fall under copyright protection.
When Should You Not Use Quotes In Custom T-Shirt Printing?
When it comes to custom t-shirt printing in Canada, it would be best not to use quotes from anything that was written previously or available on any kind of media. This includes movies, books, songs and more. You are also not allowed to quote the work if the author is still alive.
If it is a quote that you can recognize, do not use it. Those under the public domain are exceptions of course, and examples for this are the Bible, government work and Shakespeare. Using this link, you can find out the available public works and use them in your creations.
That way, you can make sure that you use any artistic creation with caution and that it does not eventually get you into trouble. It is also an excellent practice to try to adhere to copyright law, as it provides due credit to the artists that the creations belong to.
Please note that this article was not written by a lawyer, and cannot be considered as legal advice of any sort. It was written and published with the purpose of providing guidelines to those who are doing custom t-shirt printing.
When we provide custom T-shirt printing in Canada to our customers, we decide whether or not we are able to print your design, or whether we have to refuse your job offer, citing copyright issues.
This is the same regardless of which type of custom t-shirt printing you plan to do. Whether it’s same-day t-shirt printing in Vancouver, cheap t-shirt printing in Vancouver or screen printing in Vancouver, these same rules apply.
In addition to that, our customers themselves are solely responsible for the designs that they request us to print on their t-shirts.
This is why, if one of our printed t-shirts in Canada are found violating copyright, customers themselves have to face the ramifications, and we at custom t-shirt printing in Canada do not hold ourselves accountable.
Best Custom T-Shirts Shop for Rush and Bulk Orders
We also try to keep within copyright laws at all times because we believe that we are obligated to protect artists’ rights and creations. We provide same-day t-shirt printing in Vancouver, as we always attempt to give the best service to our customers.
When it comes to screen printing in Vancouver, we are efficient and provide seamless service so that our customers will always leave satisfied, and with high-quality products in their hands. Our t-shirts in Canada are of unparalleled quality, and our service is the best in the entire country.
If you have any questions about your design or want to learn more about the screen printing process, give us a call at our hotline. We will help you figure out all the minor details that need to be cleared out before printing a design. In addition, if you have a brilliant new idea for an order, but you are not quite sure how to get the design printed, we can help you in this instance as well.
We can put your custom quote on a t-shirt and make it look absolutely fabulous. So, if you are looking for custom t-shirts in Canada that are of the best quality and made without copyright infringement, contact us. We will guide you through the entire process of putting the art you envision onto a custom t-shirt.