Today while ording my plan Royal Blue Flag to reproduce the UFP flag I got to thinking, does any of the Starhips designs or replica flags that i saw in the other thread infringe on copyrights? Will I be if I have this flag reproduced?
Copyright Issues
- Thread starter dispatcher812
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Thought so, thanks.
I would think Copyright wouldn't come into play here, but Trademark would. You've probably seen statements like "blah blah property and all related indicia are protected...". This would fall under the "related indicia" part. But I agree with NCC-1701, as long as you don't do it for profit, I don't think there's a problem.
Do you think I will find someone to do it? Or will I run into a problem.
You can do whatever you want to it as long as you're not selling them for profit.
I know quite a bit about UK Copyright law. US Copyright law is different... but I don't think significantly so. Essentially, yes it is an infringement of the author's (in this case, the designer of the flag) copyright to have the work reproduced. And it is irrelevant that it's not for commercial purposes. Technically, that means that you shouldn't be able to find anyone to reproduce it for you. In reality, enforcement of copyright laws is slightly more forgiving... there's no-one in a position to police what arrangements you make with other private individuals and it's unlikely that someone you're paying to do this will care that it's an infringement. Furthermore, as your question indicates, they may not even realise that it's against the law.
So, in short, commissioning a reproduction of the flag IS an infringement of copyright, but it's unlikely that'll pose much of a problem.
So, in short, commissioning a reproduction of the flag IS an infringement of copyright, but it's unlikely that'll pose much of a problem.
So many people have made their own uniforms, comm badges, phasers... I think if they were likely to get in trouble for it they would have done so already.
Remember the guy who redesigned the inside of his house to look like a starship? Well he didnt get in trouble for that..
Not to mention those guys with the aforementioned home made props who have made quite a business out of it on ebay. If anyone where likely to get in trouble for it, it'd be them.
Remember the guy who redesigned the inside of his house to look like a starship? Well he didnt get in trouble for that..
Not to mention those guys with the aforementioned home made props who have made quite a business out of it on ebay. If anyone where likely to get in trouble for it, it'd be them.
Seeing how they do not actualy make the UFP flag in a 3feet by 5 feet size, at least I can't find it anyway, Would I have any luck in getting permission from Paramount? or would this be futile?
Copyrights are designed to make sure that the creators of a work can profit from said works and prevent others from making profits on their creations. Anything you do for yourself falls into the gray area of Fair Use. However, if you tried to sell anything that is copyrighted, or of you were to freely distribute something that is copyrighted, the copyright holder could argue that you are impeding their ability to make money on it (e.g. if Lucas thought fan films on the internet were giving people enough Star wars fix that they didn't buy his DVDs, you can bet he'd go after the makes of those).
In short, do it for yourself, fine.
Freely distribute your own work to others, gray area.
Make money on it, bad.
In short, do it for yourself, fine.
Freely distribute your own work to others, gray area.
Make money on it, bad.
Fair use is the issue. Reproducing portions of Trek for non-profit use, such as tribute websites, etc. is allowable. In the Trek universe however much more seems to be permitted. Fan productions of Trek episodes, like Phase 2, are not officially sanctioned by CBS or Paramount but they are tolerated.
When you first mentioned your project, I assumed you were making it yourself and I couldn't see why you were worried.
If you intend to hand some artwork to a flag maker, embroiderer or screen printer, then it will depend if they recognise the design or not. If they are being paid by you to make the flag, then they are breaching the law. If they get caught, of course.
If you're planning to go into mass production, you can send a formal request to CBS Consumer Products. It used to be possible to buy smallish licensing deals for fans who sold hand made items at conventions, although maybe no more.
Therion of Andor,
Do you think I could get CBS to let me purchase a licensing deal to do just ONE flag?
Do you think I could get CBS to let me purchase a licensing deal to do just ONE flag?
I agree with the above poster who said they probably won't even bother to respond. I also agree that sanctioning you for having a 3'x5' flag made isn't going to be worth the energy for a multi-million dollar corporation.
Well I guess I will try to have it done, its just a matter of finding someone who will do it. Thanks to all for your insights.
It won't apply. You're not planning to make money.
All you need is to find someone willing to make your flag.
It's called Trade Dress, which falls under the Trademark law. The use of designs like the UFP flag, the outline of a starship, the phrase "Beam me up", etc. all fall under the definition of intellectual property of the Trek franchise, and so are protected by copyright. Basically anything recognizably originating from the show.
If you're stitching a flag for your living room, don't sweat it. If you're doing it for ebay, chances are if the right person saw it they would send you an email requesting you remove it or face further action. As far as I know they can't begin an action without first informing you officially of the violation and giving you a chance to desist.
Since I have a couple tee shirt shops online, I've been contacted twice with this request when my designs inadvertedly cross over into copyright infringement; for example, one shirt said "The other white meat", and another used a red cross. Both emails were polite and since I removed the offending products, nothing else ever came of it.
I wouldn't bother worrying over one personal flag. I doubt the company would license one flag, since licensing is usually done for ongoing sales.
To be honest, I live in China and see so much major copyright infringement on a daily basis, of major corporations. Exact clone copies of Starbucks, for example, down to the green circular logo. Not to mention rampant pirated DVDs in full blown pirate storefronts (which magically disappear during international events like an international film festival). Or people at trade shows actually trying to get engineering advice from the OEM reps of the equipment they have blatantly pirated and are selling as "brand".
[Beware underpriced brand goods from the mainland. Chances are it's pirated or made with expired/rejected parts].
IDIC?
If you're stitching a flag for your living room, don't sweat it. If you're doing it for ebay, chances are if the right person saw it they would send you an email requesting you remove it or face further action. As far as I know they can't begin an action without first informing you officially of the violation and giving you a chance to desist.
Since I have a couple tee shirt shops online, I've been contacted twice with this request when my designs inadvertedly cross over into copyright infringement; for example, one shirt said "The other white meat", and another used a red cross. Both emails were polite and since I removed the offending products, nothing else ever came of it.
I wouldn't bother worrying over one personal flag. I doubt the company would license one flag, since licensing is usually done for ongoing sales.
To be honest, I live in China and see so much major copyright infringement on a daily basis, of major corporations. Exact clone copies of Starbucks, for example, down to the green circular logo. Not to mention rampant pirated DVDs in full blown pirate storefronts (which magically disappear during international events like an international film festival). Or people at trade shows actually trying to get engineering advice from the OEM reps of the equipment they have blatantly pirated and are selling as "brand".
[Beware underpriced brand goods from the mainland. Chances are it's pirated or made with expired/rejected parts].
IDIC?
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