QUESTION
Can I sell items that may or may not contain copyrighted material? I asked this question before but I wanted to add something.
Asked on May 11th, 2012 on Intellectual Property - Indiana
More details to this question:
I said that I use photo editing software to make photo collages that may or may not contain lyrics usually for my mother for her birthday or mother''s day. However we were thinking about starting a business doing this, but could I get sued for making collages for customers that may contain copyrighted lyrics or poems etc? Certainly I couldn''t predict what a customer would want. So would I have to get permission for each song lyric, or poem etc. used for every customer before I could create and sell their item to them. I am charging for service, not for product, so what legal precautions do i need to take? I haven''t started it yet, it''s just an idea but I was thinking for example tattoo artist may tattoo a person with a song lyric or trademark for Nike. Do the tattoo artist have to get permission to do that? The customers can choose to buy a product from my store to put the collage on like a t-shirt and I would print it on their but like I said I just charge for service.
1 ANSWER
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The additional facts you add do not change anything. If you are copying and distributing copyrighted material, regardless of medium, and doing so for a profit, you are at risk unless you can articulate a clear exception from copyright infringement applicable to each instance of copying. While copying of very short passages from a copyrighted work may be one indication that your use is "fair," brevity alone is not dispositive of this issue. For that reason, you should be prepared to seek permission from the copyright owner or to engage the services of an attorney who can advise you in each instance that your use is non-infringing.
Answered on May 11th, 2012 at 11:16 AM