Team logos and trademarks etc

[bridesmom]

DD has come up with a great idea for a product but it would require use of a team logo and/or licensed fabric of that team. My questions are:
1. Can you make a somewhat similar facsimile of a logo and embroider it onto a product to sell without the team permission?
2. Can you make items to sell using purchased licensed fabric?
3. Can you just use the team name without the logo and embroider that onto an item to sell?

I've been doing some researching and am not getting great answers. Do I need to contact a legal type person to find out, or do I have to contact the team administration directly to find out these answers?

Thanks for any help!

[Magot]

My understanding is that
1 you could probably get away with this
2 No - not for resale
3 no that is copywrited too.

~But then I am in the UK and it may be different there.

[sewhappyrtr]

Seems like a while ago, there was a thread about all of the licensing rules and stuff..
For my Disney embroidery machine., I think I can embroider all I want., but I can't sell anything that has the Disney trademark on it.,
If I did It seems they could come and fine me and confiscate my machine.
I can give away all I want with the trademark things on it..
Others on here probably have the correct info..

[Pudge99]

Here is my take on this whole subject.

If you, personally, took the time and money to create something, copyright/trademark it, advertise it, and make it recognizable in almost every home in North America, would you want someone else to come along and copy it and make a profit off it without giving you anything?

If you research online you can find many court cases where a good lawyer got the copyright/trademark infringers off. You can also find reference to the ones where Disney confiscated everything. I don't know about you but I would rather avoid the whole mess. I surely don't have the money to hire the kind of lawyer who could get me off.

[MartySews2]

My answers to your questions are:
1) I would not try to use any team logo without the team administration's written permission
2) Unless you have a trademark resell license to use licensed fabric, you are not supposed to use licensed trademark fabric to sell items
3) I would get the team's administration's written permission to use their name on any item to sell

Copyright rules & use of such are very complicated. I would discuss this with a copyright attorney to find out where you stand legally. I know that people violate these rules all of the time (including Disney's rules) by selling items at craft fairs. I see it at almost every craft fair that I attend. I even know some people who do this. To me, it is the same as stealing. If for some reason you were ever caught, you could face jail time, lose your home, all of your income & savings, plus all of your sewing equipment. These are some of the penalties that have been imposed. To me, it's just not worth my time & energy to take that type of risk. There are too many other things that I would rather sew. To make money from sewing, the best thing is to sell your time & skills by doing custom work & develop a following of customers.
Marty

[Sancin]

I am not sure of this. If it works anything like idea copy right a safe thing to do is to contact the owner and/or distributor of the logo. Often they will give permission for a numbered amount of reproductions providing acknowledgment of the original is given somewhere legible , eg. adapted from. If the logo is to be used for a local or community team and only so many to be made up, perhaps, after permission from original owner, one could requested a donation. Do contact a lawyer, it may be deductible from any profits. It will be worth the cost for someone else to help with the navigation and advice to feel secure.

[temom]

I do know that the college teams are strict enforcers of the copyrights of their logos. Here it is assumed that you will not get away with any copyright infringements with the college teams.
If you call the team administrative office, they will easily tell you what you can and can not do, as they deal with it all the time.

[bridesmom]

Thanks for your input to all this. I am thinking that DD had a great idea, but I don't think she realized just how complicated this can get. I can still go ahead without team logos, but it would have been really cute. Who knows? Maybe I'll still do up a sample and send it off to the team and see what they think? It can't hurt, that's for sure. My co-workers daughter works for an NHL hockey team, I may use her to find out where and who to talk to as she is in the marketing end.