Sanders campaign accused of "trademark bullying"

boing
41

Not really. That only applies in cases where your likeness promotes something commercially.

42

And this T-shirt is a commercial item, sold for profit. Sorry, not gonna fly.

Go ahead, try the exact same thing with, say, Johnny Depp’s face. Go on, try. You may want to retain skilled counsel.

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43

Commercially in the sense of what you use your image to promote in the first place.

44

No, not even close.

You may not use someone’s likeness for commercial gain of any sort, without their permission. Period. Yes, this covers promotion, but it also covers using the image in any way for commercial gain.

There are exceptions (again, shots of crowds at public events such as sports games, news shots of large groups of people, and so on, for example) where this does not apply, but that’s because no individual is being used. Also, the case for use for non-commercial use is somewhat different. That, however, doesn’t apply to the sale of a T-shirt.

45

Political statement, and parody, could be free and projected speech?

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46

You’re forgetting about satire. Also, that law really has to do with endorsement. Photographers sell pictures of people for money all the time, and they don’t need permission. In fact, they own the image as soon as it’s taken. You should probably read a bit more about copyright / trademark law.

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47

Not if it’s done for a commercial purpose. Try slapping some Google on that.

Once again, try selling a LeBron James T-shirt. Or, for that matter, regarding satire, one of Cruz with the caption “Snively Whiplash”. Hire good lawyers.

Edit -> Photographers can take any picture they like, certainly. That does NOT allow them to reproduce said image for financial gain, of itself…

48

Flat out wrong I’m afraid.

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49

Your insistence does not trump published law or many, MANY tort cases. Google is your friend.

50

Yep. It is. You’re cherry picking though. Good day sir.

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51

IP law is not that simple. If it were, political cartoons would be illegal, and they are not.

Stop spouting BS.

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52

Nope. Try that Google search you’re avoiding.

For example, as the very first link when searching for “when can I use someone’s image for a commercial purpose”: http://saperlaw.com/2007/10/05/using-a-photograph-for-commercial-purposes-copyright-and-right-of-publicity-law/

Here’s another: http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/releases/when/

A quote from the 2nd link: "If your use is for commercial purposes—for example, using a person’s photo in an advertisement—you need to obtain a release. If your use is for informational purposes such as a documentary film or news article, you may not need a release.

You are going to have to learn that insistence does not generate existence, no matter how vehement. Learn2debate.

@ Skeptic: Right back at’cha, chump. Do the Google search, then smack yourself briskly across the chops.

53

I’ve done plenty of searches over the last 30 years on the topic. What you’re missing is the specificity of commercial purpose. I also think the Sanders campaign has a strong argument over the logo being used. What you’re arguing is simplistic at best.

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56

Yes, you’re correct.

And political speech is the most protected, which is why Bernie’s people argued (I believe correctly) that the logo is protected rather than the idea. They basically wrote the dude and told him to feel free to put Bernie’s face on the t-shirt, just leave off anything that resembles (infringes upon) Bernie’s registered logos.

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57

Yes, because the campaign’s lawyer is really a copyright trolley.

58

They’re not politicians.

Whereas, HRC and Trump are politicians and you can use their likenesses to make a political statement and sell these statements. It’s protected speech. You probably can’t use Trump’s likeness and the phrase Make America Great again because I bet he has registered it for his exclusive use.

59

Freelance photographers do this all the time. It’s how they earn their living. This is why there are photographers at athletic events, on the campaign trails, and outside restaurants waiting to snap photos of famous people. The can sell, license, and reproduce their photographs to whomever.

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60

Didn’t click the links, did you? As I said, this is about his logo, not his image. And it seems to be a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

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61

Political cartoons distort likenesses for effect. They are quite different; they are obviously burlesques.

62

Perhaps they’re his real source of funding. A Trump country would be a paradise for lawyers.

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