so, for my Design II class, I had to design a poster, could be anything I wanted.. so I figured I would design something I could re-use for one of the websites. It's been a long time since I worked on anything pretty for inthe80s, so I gave it a shot. I came up with the idea of using band names, and forming a pattern with them. Turns out, when I went to upload the image to cafepress in order to make it a product, I read the rules, and the use of a name of a celebrity is considered illegal without their written permission.

Considering the design uses about 340 band names (quite well done I like to think), I doubt very much I could ever gain permission for use of the artwork.. the bummer of course, is that I had to spend $50 towards printing the poster, and I was hoping that I could sell t-shirts with the image to help recoup my costs from class..

I figured if I just used the names, without the trademark logos bands tend to use, I'd be all set (especially en-masse as it were, and not making it look like I said something like Duran Duran says you should visit inthe80s.com or something).. personally I think what I did falls into the fair use area of copyright law, but I doubt I could convince the company that handles the printing to take that view as well.. and I know I've seen designs of this nature used in advertising before, but for established media outlets, that probably wouldn't get sued by a band, since they'd be afraid of getting their airplay cut..

30 hours of work, for a poster that ends up in my house and seen by about a dozen people.. I'd post the image on the website, but I'm sure if I am liable, I'd get sued for it.. I'm really cheesed right about now.. though I'm sure I'll get a good mark in the class (and especially on the project), I'm pretty ticked off in general.

That sounds a real bummer CHucky.

I'm not sure about this but I did hear that if you get the image from a web site its regarded as 'in the public domain' and the normal copyright laws don't apply.

May be the printing copy would know about this?

Bad luck Chuck

The law IS an @ss..... >:(

That really sucks :(  I would LOVE to see your creation!  I bet it is fantastic.   :D

Dam laws  >:(

Sorry to hear it, Chucky. Too bad we couldn't see it!

Despite the claim that celebrities' names can't be used without permission, I think it would be very difficult to prosecute unless it could be proved that you were using the design to promote a commercial enterprise or as an official endorsement. If that were the case, I could be sued for my avatar. Then again, considering what I'm using, maybe I will be...  :)

The law is an a$$, that's from Oliver Twist, isn't it?

I'm no lawyer, but I do remember that Andy Worhol painted a picture of a Cambells Soup can, which became a poster and was used on T shirts.  Of course I have no idea about the legal details - maybe he got permission.  You might want to check with a lawyer - maybe a law professor would be cheaper.   ;) Just a thought.  Good luck  ;D

I thought more about it, and I think it's ok for me to display it.. I remember a court case about ten years ago dealing with the listing of names and phone numbers in the phone books, and one of those CD-ROM companies were re-selling the information. The court ruled that a list of names couldn't be considered copyrighted.. and since I just made a list of names, I think I'm ok..

either way, here's a PDF file with the poster I designed.. if I'm not trying to sell it, I'm probably ok anyways..

http://www.inthe80s.com/inthe80s_bands.pdf

it would have looked cool on t-shirts I think.. but I guess if you want, you could print it on iron-on transfers and make your own with an inkjet printer.. I've never tried it, but I guss it works or no one would sell them..

Chucky, that was too cool!  Actually, I think you're okay since you didn't actually copy the names as they are printed on, say, an album cover (like Metallica is printed in Goreripper's cover).  Just the use of the names should be okay.

That is cool, Chucky :)

That is so cool! It reminds me of all my folders in high school. If you find a way around it, I'll buy a t-shirt. Great job Chucky.