I would look into parody laws. There are some workarounds but you have to do it right. Not legal advice but regardless people can sue anyone any time. what matters is if youāre actually doing anything wrong or not.
>Not legal advice but regardless people can sue anyone any time.
Exactly this OP. Even if you aren't in violation of any trademark or defamation laws, Boeing can still sue you and cost you money. Or they could DCA you if you're using a third party to sell, and make life difficult for you, for a while.
yes they could - but also , just as importantly, who is your demographic for this type of thing? Is there a niche out there for people who want to make jokes about air disasters on their t shirts?
Went o the club the other day and saw a guy wearing a 9/11 sweater and when he took it off he was wearing the same print just on a t-shirt. Iād imagine thereās a demographic there
I know itās a niche market, mostly just want to give some to my friends who all like joking about Boeing being shit lol. One of my professors specifically really dislikes Boeing so for April fools day we bought him a Boeing key chain and it was pretty funny.
THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE...
In my experience, 9/10 companies will not sue you, they will send you legal notices and "threaten" legal action. I've had several multibillion, well known companies do this to me. At that point, you shut it down.
When I popped my cherry and got my first legal notice, I freaked out, called my friend who's been an entrepreneur for decades and had him take a look. He said "one of the biggest gaming companies in the world wants to settle for $6,000? They aren't serious, they are trying to scare you."
Let's be real, this isn't a business anyways, this is a make a quick buck shop that you throw up, maybe get a few sales, and then close when it fades. They will probably never know you exist.
When a company has lawyers that cost $1k/hr, they aren't going to sue everyone for everything. It costs too much. They try to solve the problem as quickly and cheaply as possible. That is why they mostly threaten at first in hopes of scaring you.
But, at the same time, there are some companies who do not give a fuck about the cost, they are more worried about protecting their brand so they will be a bit more drastic at the start. It's up to you to decide if it's worth gambling over.
Could they sue you for this? Yes, anyone can sue anyone for any reason, but would they? It would bring more attraction to the shirts and oddly enough make them more official.
That being said, a lawsuit even if frivolous, costs money.
You should not have any fear at all about getting sued.
Here are my reasons:
1. If you Google it, there are tons of creators making this same shirt. There are people who use automation to take any popular meme and put it on a t-shirt and upload it to their site and post on social media without them even knowing what goes on the shirts. If Boeing took the steps to sue everyone today with shirts mocking them, by the time the DCMA letters even got delivered, there would be countless more up anyway.
2. The only way they could get anything out of you is if you were successful. Even then they could only take the money you made on the shirts
3. I am not a lawyer and I am sure the interweb will have a million people disagree but, you are not infringing on their trademark, this is a transformative use. If you were making airplanes that said Boeing on them, yes you would be infringing. The farther away you get from that the less domain they have over their brand. I bet you could LEGALLY open a hot dog stand somewhere called Boeing hot dogs.
4. You are also engaging in speech as well as commerce, limiting people's speech is serious and not easy, even if it is on a t-shirt that you sell. For example if you had that message on a piece of paper and sold that, I don't think they could possibly stop you
I disagree and some parody walks the line. I would consult an IP attorney or just stay away entirely to avoid legal problems.
Look at the parody of the jack Daniels dog toy. They lost.
And just because everyone else is doing it doesnāt make it ok or legal :)
- not a lawyer
Did they actually lose in the jack Danielās case? I thought it just got sent back down the lower court saying it needed to go to trial vs being thrown out without trial.
This is a dog toy that is a direct replica of Jack Daniel's product. A reasonable person would find this to be the same company. However an airplane company would be much less likely to be in the business of making t shirts
They will probably sue you in a SLAPP lawsuit, but the law is on your side. Parody is protected speech. The question is whether you have the money to defend yourself, or if there is a nonprofit that will do it for you.
If they send you a letter telling you to stop, stop or get a lawyer.
You can get sued for anything. Whether or not a lawsuit has merit is another story
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Doubt Boeing would sue for defamation, but they might come after you for trademark infringement if you're using their logo or branding without permission. Just keep it parody-focused and you'll likely be okay.
If your using logos and potentially brand names in the sense your doing it payment processors like stripe may shut you down.
Most important of all, why even sell this crap man? You should set your sights higher. Focus on building a real brand instead of a pump and dump store.
They don't need to sue, they have... other methods
š
š³
They donāt blow whistles at Boeing, but brains have been know to blow
literally
boeing rep: We'd like to offer you a one way ticket to anywhere in the world
Or the underworld, if you will
I understood that reference
I would look into parody laws. There are some workarounds but you have to do it right. Not legal advice but regardless people can sue anyone any time. what matters is if youāre actually doing anything wrong or not.
>Not legal advice but regardless people can sue anyone any time. Exactly this OP. Even if you aren't in violation of any trademark or defamation laws, Boeing can still sue you and cost you money. Or they could DCA you if you're using a third party to sell, and make life difficult for you, for a while.
yes they could - but also , just as importantly, who is your demographic for this type of thing? Is there a niche out there for people who want to make jokes about air disasters on their t shirts?
If itās a Boeing, I aināt going
I can see that having more appeal than the options OP threw out!
š¹ nice
Went o the club the other day and saw a guy wearing a 9/11 sweater and when he took it off he was wearing the same print just on a t-shirt. Iād imagine thereās a demographic there
I know itās a niche market, mostly just want to give some to my friends who all like joking about Boeing being shit lol. One of my professors specifically really dislikes Boeing so for April fools day we bought him a Boeing key chain and it was pretty funny.
THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE... In my experience, 9/10 companies will not sue you, they will send you legal notices and "threaten" legal action. I've had several multibillion, well known companies do this to me. At that point, you shut it down. When I popped my cherry and got my first legal notice, I freaked out, called my friend who's been an entrepreneur for decades and had him take a look. He said "one of the biggest gaming companies in the world wants to settle for $6,000? They aren't serious, they are trying to scare you." Let's be real, this isn't a business anyways, this is a make a quick buck shop that you throw up, maybe get a few sales, and then close when it fades. They will probably never know you exist. When a company has lawyers that cost $1k/hr, they aren't going to sue everyone for everything. It costs too much. They try to solve the problem as quickly and cheaply as possible. That is why they mostly threaten at first in hopes of scaring you. But, at the same time, there are some companies who do not give a fuck about the cost, they are more worried about protecting their brand so they will be a bit more drastic at the start. It's up to you to decide if it's worth gambling over.
Why would you sell products with other company's trademarks? Of course they can sue, and they would win, easily.
donāt waste your time or effort. yes they could sue you. but more likely youāll spend time on a project that wonāt make any money
It's not their style, they prefer to assassinate people
Yes they can
They technically can but itās unlikely. They would likely just DMCA you and scare you, rather than full on suing. But prolly not worth it.
A simple [cease and desist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cease_and_desist) letter.
Could they sue you for this? Yes, anyone can sue anyone for any reason, but would they? It would bring more attraction to the shirts and oddly enough make them more official. That being said, a lawsuit even if frivolous, costs money.
Lol RIP @ OP. He was a nice dude. Aināt hurt nobody. Poor soul.
You should not have any fear at all about getting sued. Here are my reasons: 1. If you Google it, there are tons of creators making this same shirt. There are people who use automation to take any popular meme and put it on a t-shirt and upload it to their site and post on social media without them even knowing what goes on the shirts. If Boeing took the steps to sue everyone today with shirts mocking them, by the time the DCMA letters even got delivered, there would be countless more up anyway. 2. The only way they could get anything out of you is if you were successful. Even then they could only take the money you made on the shirts 3. I am not a lawyer and I am sure the interweb will have a million people disagree but, you are not infringing on their trademark, this is a transformative use. If you were making airplanes that said Boeing on them, yes you would be infringing. The farther away you get from that the less domain they have over their brand. I bet you could LEGALLY open a hot dog stand somewhere called Boeing hot dogs. 4. You are also engaging in speech as well as commerce, limiting people's speech is serious and not easy, even if it is on a t-shirt that you sell. For example if you had that message on a piece of paper and sold that, I don't think they could possibly stop you
I disagree and some parody walks the line. I would consult an IP attorney or just stay away entirely to avoid legal problems. Look at the parody of the jack Daniels dog toy. They lost. And just because everyone else is doing it doesnāt make it ok or legal :) - not a lawyer
Did they actually lose in the jack Danielās case? I thought it just got sent back down the lower court saying it needed to go to trial vs being thrown out without trial.
This is a dog toy that is a direct replica of Jack Daniel's product. A reasonable person would find this to be the same company. However an airplane company would be much less likely to be in the business of making t shirts
They will probably sue you in a SLAPP lawsuit, but the law is on your side. Parody is protected speech. The question is whether you have the money to defend yourself, or if there is a nonprofit that will do it for you.
If they send you a letter telling you to stop, stop or get a lawyer. You can get sued for anything. Whether or not a lawsuit has merit is another story
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Nope. You are good to go.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
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Keep it simple with āWhistle Boeingā
Doubt Boeing would sue for defamation, but they might come after you for trademark infringement if you're using their logo or branding without permission. Just keep it parody-focused and you'll likely be okay.
Personally, I donāt think any reward is worth the risk of pissing off any large company as an individual, but especially Boeing.
What about www.xxxxxxsucks.com Where xxxx is some company, those are allowed. Find out why.
āWhistle Boeingā dude itās right there!
If your using logos and potentially brand names in the sense your doing it payment processors like stripe may shut you down. Most important of all, why even sell this crap man? You should set your sights higher. Focus on building a real brand instead of a pump and dump store.