Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New York

Thanks in advance for your opinion folks. If I want to parody my school on a Tshirt by misspelling it. Say for instance University of Delewhere or perhaps Princton. Will I be taken to task for it? Thanks again?


Asked on 12/28/09, 1:50 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Sarah Grosse Sarah Grosse, Esquire

Parody is an exception to copyright law. BUT, you need to worry about trademark law too. I doubt a T-shirt which looks like a Princeton shirt would be okay. The legal standard is "likelihood of confusion." If people think it is a genuine product just by looking at it with a quick glance, then you are committing trademark infringement.

What you need to do is have an attorney look at each specific instance of your proposed sale and tell you your potential liability. Your liability will FAR exceed you profits.

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Answered on 1/02/10, 3:00 pm


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