question

fosunet asked Jan 14, '16

Violation of the Service Agreement/Content Policy Help

Hi can you please help here. I have many designs witch I am confuse with the copyright and trademark. I had 25 designs, 2 has been removed due to copyright and trademark suspection. and the other 23 are still on my account. most of them I Beleive comply with Merch by Amazon policie, example. BEST DAD EVER t shirt, as it's written with normal letter and big sized bolded. The GrandFather t-shirt I have done with different color but still doubt. I made some research if it has trademark , I can’t found it, and I am not sure if it is protected or not.. (for me this is ovious if you need license or permission to use the GrandFather…..Me too I have a GrandFather and want to make t-shirt for him and also sell my grandfather t-shit…….), however if this word found to be a copyright or intelectuall property I will be very disappointed and probably in most case in the future I will found a lot of trouble like these simple word who can belong to everyone. However, my question is I am working hard doing the design and do not want get involved with any copyright or trademark issue, and I am happy to delete more designa from my account or amazon take this step further for me and delete them. I have an AC/DC t shirt witch is making some sell, I have already sold 39 items, Now Amazon has already deleted 2 designs and I think they are right as one was for Mickey Mouse and the Other was NFL YOUTH NEW YORK GIANTS tshirt… I was just started and didn’t do a good research and also that time I saw a lot of members submitting these kind of t-shirt and though it was fine to submit, anyaway lesson been learn now and the 2 designs has been deleted by Amazon staff. I just want you if you could help me with your opinion especially if you are an Amazon staff admin, or support. 1) I have AC/DC design and I found the logo is trademark written with Black color in wikkipedia, my tshirt AC/DC is in red color and the AC/DC logo is a general electrical supply Enery power, how do I consider this design shall I leave or shall I deleted….can you please advice if I am in the right route. 2) Can you please have a look at my design and advice me with an opinion of the design I made if need to be deleted or has nothing to do with trademark or copyright. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=w_bl_sl_s_ap_web_7141123011?ie=UTF8&node=7141123011&field-brandtextbin=Customizable+Shirts Your help much appreciated in order to avoid my account to be shutdown.

merch by amazon

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Careful Reader answered Jan 14, '16

Your AC/DC design is a replica of the band's logo, so you can't use it. The word, "grandfather," is not copyrighted nor can it be copyrighted. However, if someone creates a special design that uses the word, and if you copy that design, you're violating copyright law. It takes time to absorb all the rules, and even then, you can still have periodic problems. I ran into trouble at one point by referring to Dali, the painter.

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Ezequiel Reyes answered Jan 14, '16

In my honest opinion if you get banned then you have no else to blame but your self your clearly violating there terms and conditions and believe your not. Your using the success of other people's brands to fuel your own, that is not ok.

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Ricardo Almeida answered Jan 14, '16

He must be kidding.

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Ezequiel Reyes answered Jan 15, '16

Sadly no, this guy was serious, but they just took down some of his shirts today.

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CanadaMediaGuy answered Jan 15, '16

1) Don't use band names, the color is not important. I'd take the AC DC shirt down asap. Change the color of something doesn't make it yours. 2) Only use images you have the rights to use (for instance I own multiple design libraries with licensed images, I have the license to use those as I paid for them and have commercial use license) 3) Original designs can be protected even if it uses common words. Nobody owns 'grandfather' but someone might own a custom grandfather logo. I understand some of this stuff can be nebulous but you should do some research on it. Keep in mind it will be judged based on USA law as far as I know. Also copying generic designs only goes so far. The real money is in original work. Put some time into it.

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fosunet answered Jan 15, '16

I started only in November, and I have took down now all the design that make a saleand I doubted they are trademark or copyright just to have peace of mind and not looking for dirty money, it sad but it's my fault haven't dig deep. anyway lesson learn. Thanks for the advice, I have take down the acdc tshirt yesterday already, I have and must dig deep and learn about the trademark what work and what not...it so complex when you start.... Do you mean the license for the ACDC band or something else you are doing? was it easy to get the licence, do you have to pay in advance or until you make a sale and you share the profit in percent... Thanks

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fosunet answered Jan 15, '16

no one has took down my design, I am myself clearing and taking down the one I doubt....due to the complexity of the copyright and trademark I am in the process of learning and digging deep for what is allow and what is not! and bear in mind I am not looking for the dirty money. I came here and tried to be transparent to get some help and advice how to deal with this kind of situation. I saw just my post your new threat addressing the issue to amazon for banning. I would be more happy first instance if you asked me I was doing think wrongly just take down the t-shirt from my account,,,, that look a great support and help, not go to amazon and ask to ban members. Thanks anyway

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fosunet answered Jan 15, '16

I Will take this seriously......Thank for the advice

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charly64 answered Jan 16, '16

Hi, They are measuring with different standards here. I got a design (from Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository) pulled too while other people are allowed to still sell the same design ??? (yeah, i know some of them have a license to sell them but not all of them as far as i could see ) Same story with your AC/DC logo shirt if you ask me, plenty of them on amazon.. So whats the game here ? Protecting the bigger sellers against upcoming sellers from Merch ? Sounds ridiculous huh... Enlighten me team...

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Ricardo Almeida answered Jan 16, '16

Let me make it simple, so you can understand... Other people/company create designs to make money (just like you're doing). Do you think they use their time and resources or employ other people to create original products to see them been used by somebody else without any form of compensation? Let me make it even simpler: would you like to have anything you've created being used by somebody... and you getting no compensation for that?

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