Am I allowed

[JSR]

The "Superman" diamond logo is a trademark, and as such is protected by trademark law, not copyright. A trademarked logo cannot be used in a way that suggests an endorsement by the logo's owner where none exists.

Putting the logo on a t-shirt, even for your grandson, may suggest an endorsement by the logo's owner and put you at risk. Even if you alter the logo slightly (changing the S to another letter), it would be considered trademark confusion and thus trademark dilution could be argued.

I'm certainly not a legal person - however, as I understand it, one criteria of registering a trademark is that the trademark-owner must pursue infringer(s) when found or risk not being able to defend their trademark in the future (because if they don't bring an infringement suit it could be classed as "implied consent"). So they will come after you, even for a one-off item, if they find out. You may end up with nothing more than a heavy-handed "cease and desist", or they could presume that you've been making hundreds of them and sue you, but that would be for them to decide.

[mr-gobby]

Try producing a parody?
http://www.t-shirtmagazineonline.com/7-legal-tips/

[galerion]

You may still have problems with parody stuff as the parody law in the uk is relatively new.

Owners of the copyrighted works will only be able to sue if the parody conveys a discriminatory message.
It would then be down to a judge to decide if the parody is funny.
"The only, and essential, characteristics of parody are, on the one hand, to evoke an existing work while being noticeably different from it and, on the other, to constitute an expression of humour or mockery," the EU rules state.
"If a parody conveys a discriminatory message (for example, by replacing the original characters with people wearing veils and people of colour), the holders of the rights to the work parodied have, in principle, a legitimate interest in ensuring that their work is not associated with such a message."

Also remember the parody law is in relation to copyright not trademark so if your parodying a trademark the parody law won't protect you.

[logobear]

the 'Can I use that picture' artwork is brilliant, - but do you have permission to post it here, ? - am I alowed to download and print it, or post it on my facebook page ? lol

[galerion]

the 'Can I use that picture' artwork is brilliant, - but do you have permission to post it here, ? - am I alowed to download and print it, or post it on my facebook page ? lol

It is good, I don't have permission and I would say it's being used for educational purposes from there it can answer the rest of the questions which is great.

[JSR]

the 'Can I use that picture' artwork is brilliant, - but do you have permission to post it here, ? - am I alowed to download and print it, or post it on my facebook page ? lol

If the posted graphic had been linked back to the original site, you would have found a discussion in the comments on that very subject. Here's the link: http://thevisualcommunicationguy.com/20 ... t-picture/.

In short, it looks like it's okay to post it in this context so long as you linkback to and cite the original author.

[jennywren]

As I said its a minefield but when I look online or at others art work or website, facebook all I see it other people work used one way or another, even mine is copied and used. I have a tiny mark that I place hidden in my artwork and its not easy to spot unless you know where to look. I type in superman t.shirts and hundreds pop up and some call themselves independent artists. I never understand why they are still allowed to sell, its the same with ebay. It seems like a hit and miss affair with copyright. I give up, I understand the basic rules but the rest of the rules just go over my head. I just get frustrated at the others that get away it and do so. I will not be doing the superman t.shirt but might become a independent artist (joke)

[GoldRapt]

My grandson wants a superman t.shirt for Xmas, he asked me to print him one. I said no as I know its copyrighted, but I just thought I check, as I know you can't use it for public use, wondering any when I can use it within the law, his face dropped when I said no, as it would be seen by the public and I don't want to get into trouble.

It is a minefield. Even if you go down the road of doing things properly.
I recently applied to Jack Daniels for a licence to reproduce their full bottle label as a montage. I fully disclosed what the montage would be applied to (A firearm) and where it would be available (USA only).
I got a nice letter back from them. They wouldn't grant me the licence on the grounds that they did not want to be associated with firearms use and that they only granted licenses to businesses employed to do work for them directly. However they had no objection to my using their trade mark for non commercial purposes.
(i.e I can post a picture pf the montage on Facebook as it is in effect an advert for them.)
Absolutely no problem, I asked, they said no. Idea shelved.

What I find annoying is when I go to places like Etsy and see loads of "Handcrafted" items (like aprons and T-shirts etc) and offered for sale with the JD label.
None of them have permission.
Etsy doesn't care.
The individual sellers don't care, hell I even wrote to one to ask where they got their licence from....Didn't even bother to reply.
JD don't seem to care.

So forgive my cynical view but it appears that you can print that Tshirt jennywren. No one cares if you do, unless of course your product gets so huge you force someone to sit up, take notice and do something about it.

[jennywren]

Having thought long and hard about this superman t.shirt I have decided to buy one, and I seen a few that are not licensed that I like. It seems the only way forwarded.

[Earl Smith]

The "Superman" diamond logo is a trademark, and as such is protected by trademark law, not copyright. A trademarked logo cannot be used in a way that suggests an endorsement by the logo's owner where none exists.

Putting the logo on a t-shirt, even for your grandson, may suggest an endorsement by the logo's owner and put you at risk. Even if you alter the logo slightly (changing the S to another letter), it would be considered trademark confusion and thus trademark dilution could be argued.

I'm certainly not a legal person - however, as I understand it, one criteria of registering a trademark is that the trademark-owner must pursue infringer(s) when found or risk not being able to defend their trademark in the future (because if they don't bring an infringement suit it could be classed as "implied consent"). So they will come after you, even for a one-off item, if they find out. You may end up with nothing more than a heavy-handed "cease and desist", or they could presume that you've been making hundreds of them and sue you, but that would be for them to decide.

So, are you saying that this ad with the "Superman" Diamond that runs in the DSF banner is not legal as well?