Hey, I was going to print a t-shirt of my favorite band Death, which degrouped in 1999, and sell it to a friend...

But then it hit me, is this legal? I dont think the logo is copyrighted since the band's creator is dead himself, and they are out of any contracts, but is it still illegal to sell it?

Death has the copyright. Don't mess with the Dark Reaper :D

But how can a band that is no longer a band whose creator is dead have a copyright?



It doesn't matter, I have a contacted their manager, I have met him before, I believe he can give me the necesarry permission...

Technically someone owns, or a number of people own, the copyright. That might be one or more of the surviving band members, it might be his own survivors if he held it himself, it might have been transferred under a contract at one time... and it might not be worth worrying about.

Contacting the manager and asking permission is a smart way to go. As long as you're only going to make one shirt for one person and you're not going to make money off of it, the manager might not have a problem with it.

Then again, copyright holders are funny: some will sue at the mention of their property by anyone else; others will have an unspoken policy about leaving fan groups, sites, and creations alone as long as they don't try to insinuate that they (the fans) created or own the copyrighted story or characters or what have you.

I meant that literally :D

Well, the band isn't a very large band to begin with, I think the largest venue they played at was like 500 people max., and when I saw them a few years ago I talked to the band and got permission to film them and sell the tapes to my friends (I asked), so I guess my chances are pretty good

Death is what my wife and I listened to while driving around during our honeymoon :D
What do you charge for a copy of the show you filmed?

\m/ Death \m/

Copy rights only start to expire after the creator dies. For intellectual property, you are looking at 75 year or so, plus the 20 year Sonny Bono extension. Congress is having some major problems dealing with this given the latest ruling.

DayGlo, if you have a decent connection, I could ftp it for you, I wouldnt feel right charging you for it...

The copyright probably belongs to the designer, not the band, unless it was transferred in writing. It could belong to the band or to one member. If that member is dead, probably the estate owns it. I'd make an effort to contact someone connected with it.
The U.S. Copyright Office has an excellent website with excellent explanations of the law and procedures.
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/

Originally posted by DayGlo
Death is what my wife and I listened to while driving around during our honeymoon :D
What do you charge for a copy of the show you filmed?

\m/ Death \m/

Awww ... isn't that sweet. :love:

Reminds me of the movie "Death becomes her" :D

Originally posted by Acronym BOY
Copy rights only start to expire after the creator dies. For intellectual property, you are looking at 75 year or so, plus the 20 year Sonny Bono extension. Congress is having some major problems dealing with this given the latest ruling.
Congress is? I thought that the Supreme Court decision to allow the Bono extension would be a boon to Congress, not a problem.

Originally posted by Dogma
Congress is? I thought that the Supreme Court decision to allow the Bono extension would be a boon to Congress, not a problem.

Posting + lack of sleep == really bad "typos" like the one above. Sorry, good catch. :)

WindsOfNihility, thanks allot, i'll PM you soon.
:beer:

KIAHost: Awww ... isn't that sweet.
:blush: