A copyright question... Please take a look

Now I am somewhat familiar with the copyright regulations of Second Life. For example, like it is stated by many users, you can't just create a shirt and put a Nike logo on it, which Im fine with.. What I want to know though is what if we are a HUGEEEEE soccer fan, and believe me I am, and we want to create the soccer jersey of the team that we support. Mine would be Galatasaray for example. Can I just find a high res picture
of Galatasaray jersey, put it on photoshop, set it on the upper template, save it and then upload it to SL so that I can wear it all the time?? I mean I know Nike would raise hell if they witnessed their products being used this way on SL, but I highly doubt any major soccer team would care.

Their current shirt sponsors on the other hand (Turk Telekom?) may kick up a fuss...

ouch... didn't think about that... Turk Telekom and Avea actually
So if I take out the logos of the sponsors then Im fine?

Beşiktaş here. Galatasaray can go ... to Hell ... along with Türk Telekom.

Bastards double-billed me these past two months.

/me chuckles

Pep (and wonders if anyone else will appreciate the allusion.)

PS It's reassuring to know that the spirit of British Telecom is reflected globally.

I am not a lawyer.

However, it's my understanding of copyright law, that if the jersey in question is copyrighted, removing the corporate logos in Photoshop before uploading it, will not make it legal. Either it's legal to upload it exactly as-is, or it's not legal to upload it with just minor portions removed.

My personal advice would be that if you even feel the need to ask, you should not upload it as an SL jersey.

Even without the company logos, most professional sports teams guard their uniform designs and colors just as much. Replicating them in SL without permission would probably be a no no. That being said, you can find many pro sports jerseys and other stuff in SL, so it is a question of the team having to find out about and then to take action.

BTW..I am rueing the day Pro Teams here start wearing advertising on their uniforms, beyond the logo of the supplier. I'm sure it's coming.

I would say go for it - even if it is Galatasaray.

As Brenda points out, you can find plenty of sportswear replete with sponsors logos for well-known teams from around the world. One of my alts is the proud owner of a St Louis Rams Steven Jackson jersey.

Although SL is quite popular in Turkey I can't imagine anyone would get their iç giyim in a burma over it. The copyright holders of the logos can't keep track of their billing arrangements never mind pulling their fingers out to chase what would be, after all, a very minor infringement. Furthermore, I think it would be in very poor spirit if they did.

It's a wacky idea I know, but why not write the team or league or whoever it is that owns the logos and designs, and ask for permission? They might surprise you and say "um, okay."

if he is not selling it what is the harm?

Technically, none. But not every copyright holder feels that way. Just ask Disney. Or Major League Baseball. They have been known to come down on fan sites and little leagues for using logos without permission. But Coca Cola, on the other hand has said it's OK to use their logo in SL as long it isn't in any negative light.

These are primarily trademark issues, not copyright issues, though in the particular case of Nike, it's conceivably both.

If you're making it for your own personal use (meaning just your av, not even giving it away for free to friends), then I don't think there are any trademark issues in the US, because it's a non-commercial use. It's unclear whether your local laws might apply, nor do I know whether any countries have trademark laws that would affect non-commercial uses such as this. I don't think LL's rules would prohibit it, but their history of interpretation and enforcement of their own rules is so inconsistent that I wouldn't bet a wooden L$0.05 piece on it.

If you're making it to sell, or even distribute for free, then you'd need permission of the trademark owner, presumably the team. Whether anyone would complain to LL, or otherwise get them to enforce this, is another story.

If the jersey has enough originality to qualify for copyright protection, then the non-commercial protection doesn't apply. For example, if I used a copy of the Hogwarts coat of arms from the movie or elsewhere to make a personal use t-shirt in SL, that would be an infringing use. As a matter of policy, many studios and other businesses choose not to enforce their copyrights in such cases, but they don't lose any protections with that decision (other than statute of limitations issues for the specific infringement). It seems highly unlikely that a sports team would choose to enforce copyright over this, but they would have the right to file a DMCA take-down notice if they wanted. On the other hand, unlike trademark issues, LL does not generally enforce copyrights this way on their own initiative; they wait for the DMCA notice.

The usual IANAL disclaimer applies.

Without the logo, it's not clear that the rest of the jersey could qualify for copyright protection by the team. If there's a distinctive pattern, then perhaps. If it's a solid color jersey with just a team logo, then no.

On the other hand, the picture itself may be subject to copyright, which would be owned by the photographer or publisher. This would have to be evaluated on a case by case basis. There's a recent incident involving an artist who created an artistic rendition of then-candidate Obama, using another photographer's picture as the basis. I haven't paid attention to see if this has been resolved, but it raises some sticky issues.

In case you missed it the first time, IANAL.

Thank you all for the reply backs, it really answered most of the questions I was planning on asking.
What about this though: Lets say Im not allowed to upload jerseys on SL that have trademark logos and sponsor names. And yet, I take it even further and begin to sell these products (No im not planning on it). What I wanna know is, would LL care or would I get banned even though the companies don't find out about it...

PS: I live in Turkey and we have some of the lamest rules and regulations regarding these sorts of things. Meaning no one cares. You can find people selling bootlegged movies and books on the streets!

You probably would not have any issues. The Copyright holder would have to make a complaint. As we've said SL is full of trademarked sports stuff, I own a ton of NY Mets and Jets stuff myself.

The worst that could happen would be that one or all of Galatasaray, Türk Telekom or Avea would slap a court order on you demanding the stuff be removed from distribution/sale and Linden Labs would probably be obliged to delete the items from inventory, which they can do easily enough.

Otherwise I doubt anyone is going to dump you in brown stuff unless you prove to be a persistent offender or you seriously defame the images used.

Burası Türkiye, like they say.

Ok I just had a live chat with the lindens and here's the conclusion...

..... Linden: `you will not be suspended unless a DMCA is filed, yes`


Thank you all !

Actually there are worse things that could happen depending on where copyright holder has taken the necessary steps to record its copyright. The law varies from country to country, but some country's provide statutory damages which may bear no relation to actual damages to the copyright holder. In some countries, such as the United States, these damages can be quite steep for relatively minor and otherwise harmless infringements on copyright. While most copyright holders would not even pursue a minor infringement like the one about which the OP is asking, there are others, such as Getty Images, that are very proactive about searching for infringement on the internet and seeking automatic damages upon any infringement that is uncovered.

In Turkey, where the OP and the potential respondents happen to be based, the matter will be more or less ignored unless the OP turns over a substantial amount of money selling the shirts or unless he does something really crass to defame the logos and colours of the football team in question in which case he would probably have more to worry about than an IP ban or a DMCA. Heaven help anyone who gets on the wrong side of a football team's fanbase in this country.

Viktoria's suggestion above is pretty spot-on: Turks love innovation and new technology and, as I said, SL is quite popular here.

I think he would do well to knock a little Galatasaray fanshop together and, if the product proved to be saleable, he could approach their PR regarding official endorsement and even turn it into a business opportunity with other teams if he played his cards right - Fenerbahçe or Trabzon Spor or even my beloved Beşiktaş would not be slow to follow.

They would probably make a news feature out of it just for kicks. The major dailies here are very much keener on lite nooz and gossip than elsewhere in Europe or the Middle East to the point where I've seen quite a few stories about SL in the past.