Real nice blatant design ripoff there.

I've got an awesome Cthulhu for President shirt that will be out for the next election. Why Settle for the Lesser Evil!

Sorry to disppoint you but I was spot on. It may not be your understanding but it is the law.

Writing a word like "stupid" on a t-shit may or may not be trademarked or coprighted. It depends on the image. If I hand write stupid in bubble font of my own design on a t-shirt, then it is copyrighted (whether or not it is registered, registration is not necessary to obtain copyright or trademark protections, it just makes things much easier). Yet do the same thing in common font, and no its probably not protected.

this works fine with single words, but a phrase, unless very common, is much more likely some copyright attached, as well as some trademark protection. Certainly the shirt is question were copyrighted. Adding complexity to this, there is the question if the use constitutes a fair use exception.

All in all it is much safer to not use somone's work than it is to go through this analysis. Or to post the disclaimer. But telling someone just because its words in common type means its okay to use them is seriously misleading.

Depends on what you mean by "law":
Copyright Protection Not Available for Names, Titles, or Short Phrases



Now, how a judge will interpret and administer that law is, of course, a different matter and from what I can suss from the following article the line between infringement and none is "arbitrary" and depends on a number a factors including precedent and the judge's inclination:

I May Not Be Totally Perfect But Parts of Me Are Excellent: Copyright Protection for Short Phrases

Oh and Jake, you seem to be confusing Copyright and Trademark, or at least lumping them together unwittingly. Have a look at this:

What Are Patents, Trademarks, Servicemarks, and Copyrights?

You have uttered the name of the Great Old One, who doesn't take infringement lightly. It/His lawyers will be contacting you. Insanity will follow.

Dear Jonquille:

I wish to offer up an apology for the manner in which I approached this entire issue and spawned this thread.

I regret my choice of words and the inflammatory tone which I used.

I do feel that the use of others' design ideas and/or designs is not how I would prefer to see my fellow SLers use their creative gifts, but I recognize that I was wrong for saying what I did in the way that I said it.

Please accept my heartfelt apology.

P2

You see Cthulhu; lose d100 SAN. You listen to Cthulhu's lawyers; lose whatever SAN you had left.

Well some much for forum rules..........

You weren't the only one. I saw a whole bunch o' tshrthell designs on SLX yesterday. I'm not trying to be a jerk to you, it's just that it's almost too easy to download tshirt images and make some Lindens off them.

Then if they have a problem with any other usage its their right and privilege to give a notice to stop.

You dont own the copyright and you dont even have legal standing to complain. I think its great advertising and thank Jon for making such cute t-shirts available in SL!

Actually I'd be quite interested to find out where the copyright (if any) lies with those shirts, as a cursory google for "funny t-shirts" turns up dozens of places all selling the same designs (in First Life not Second) all claiming copyright on those designs.