Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Illinois

You need to note that in Illinois that there is a law called the Right of Publicity Act (765 ILCS 1075). That law states in part that, "A person may not use an individual's identity for commercial purposes during the individual's lifetime without having obtained previous written consent from the individual, his or her authorized representative or a transferee of that individual." "Identity" is defined in that law as meaning any attribute of an individual that serves to identify that individual to an ordinary, reasonable viewer or listener, including but not limited to (i) name, (ii) signature, (iii) photograph, (iv) image, (v) likeness, or (vi) voice" and "Commercial purpose" is definded in that law as meaning the public use or holding out of an individual's identity (i) on or in connection with the offering for sale or sale of a product, merchandise, goods, or services; (ii) for purposes of advertising or promoting products, merchandise, goods, or services; or (iii) for the purpose of fundraising."

In a nutshell, the answers are both yes. If the name is known enough for you to use it to sell your shirts, it is going to violate right of publicity. You bet they sue people for that.