leicester premier league related items??

[soulclaimed]

it has been suggested that I print leicester related items following the win( dont ask me anything about it I'm not a football lover) but I'm worried that there will be copyright issues. I know not to use the logo but is there anything I could print e.g leicester city football club premier league winners 2016? I imagine even that might be an issue...

[Andrew]

Most things would be covered under trademarks etc. Leicester city football champions using no logo would be border line on passing off especially as the blue would probably be used. Lcfc / premier league would be copyrighted. All depends on the risks you are prepared to take as some things can be done without crossing the line but you usually find where that line is once you get in trouble for it.

[soulclaimed]

my general rule is to avoid these things but I'm worried I might be missing out on a money spinner especially if there is a non infringing way of doing it. Also the fact that I live in Leicester.

[pisquee]

Be more generic...
You can use "Leicester" without "City"
You can say winners, won, champions etc as long as you don't mention what they won
You could then end up with a t-shirt slogan that appeals to locals who love their town as well as fans of the football club!

[socialgiraffe]

You could purchase an image from one of the news libraries of the team celebrating and just put that on a mug. It would be classified as a photo on a mug then, you may even be able to put Premier league winners 2016 on it, although not sure on the exact words you could use.

As an alternative, what about producing an "official" mug, walking into the club and telling the merchandise manager you could have 504 on their merchandise shelves by Saturday.

Not sure on what you charge, but I would expect them to be paying around £1.50-£1.80 plus VAT per mug unboxed.

[pisquee]

Double check the licensing terms when buying from libraries, as you usually need to buy the extended (and more expensive) license to print onto a product, and some don't allow it at all, especially if the main feature/value of the product is in their image.

[soulclaimed]

if the images contain the team logo on the shirts etc could this be an issue? I have a friend who has his own media company who may have photos I could use but because the stadium inside and out has the logos etc just worried this might be an issue?

[Andrew]

Stay away from logos is safer. Leicester..... Probably the best football team in the world type of thing you would need to look at. Even then you can get pulled for using Carlsberg font. Leicester 2016 Champions I am sure would be fine though.

[soulclaimed]

my question wasn't so much about using the logo it was more about if the photo was of the stadium or players the shirts or boards in the background will have the logo somewhere etc. As another example if I took a photo of an f1 car the car has sponser logos etc would this also be a problem?

[Andrew]

It can be a problem yes. These things are always far from clear. If you are inside the stadium taking photos of the team then that is likely to be a conflict point. Stay away from anything remotely official is the safest route. Even if you believe you are in the right because images belong to you, you might need deep pockets to prove it.