Can I print quotes??

[spongerobinson]

Hi all,

A quick one. I was recently asked to do a Wonder Woman mug, with pic of herself and the quote "Of all people, you know who I am...Who the world needs me to be. I am Wonder Woman."

I obviously said no to this as it would be huge copyright infringement, but the person came back asking could I just do the quote without the picture?

Now I'm thinking the same thing, that it would also be copyright infringment and that "Wonder Woman" is also probably trademarked.

I am finding conflicting information reading online though, some saying it's a big no no, others saying it's ok if it doesn't accompany an image.

I think I'll be saying I can't do it anyway, as it seems a bit of a legal minefield!!

[Designandgift]

i do not know anything about this
so i am just joining this to find out the same as you
good question. i would personally think quotes was allowed... with a little name underneath the quote from the person that quoted it. which in your case is wonder woman
but like i said i dont have a clue but really interested in finding out

[NikGrey]

Surely if its an image of the person herself, with 'I am Wonder Woman' under neath that would be ok wouldn't it ?

I would have no problem doing that.

Its like me putting an image of myself on a Mug and saying 'I'm Batman' !

maybe I mis-understood something here, wouldn't be the first time.

[Designandgift]

i think it was an actual pic of wonder woman and then the quote. could be me reading wrong myself.
if it was a pic of the customer then the quote, i wouldnt see an issue with this.
but assuming i am right in my last post - " i would personally think quotes was allowed... with a little name underneath the quote from the person that quoted it. which in your case is wonder woman " - would wonder womans name still need to go under the quote?
as i said i am clueless but this will be good to know
as i am looking at doing some mugs of a similar nature but with out the image just the quotes
mine being the "big bang theory"

[GoldRapt]

Why would a picture of say client "X"'s Auntie Joan with the text "I is a Wonder Woman" be a breach of copyright?
A picture of "wonder Woman" would be a breach of either DC Comics or some TV show company if the image was theirs or maybe the colours used to simulate their image.

What you create is your copyright, like this

and these

[pisquee]

I would assume that "Wonder Woman" was a registered trademark of some kind, and be copyright.
I am not sure on the rules of quoting someone are wrt to copyright, and what to do in the case of a quoting a fictional character - do you credit to quote to the character or the writer of the work, who you would assume does have copyright of their written work, unless this has lapsed as they have been dead a long time.

[spongerobinson]

Sorry I maybe should've worded my original post better!

The original request was for a picture of Wonder Woman with the quote, which I said I couldn't do.

The second request was just for the quote alone, "Of all people, you know who I am...Who the world needs me to be. I am Wonder Woman."

As pisquee mentioned, I'm also assuming "Wonder Woman" is a trademark of some kind, and to use it in the context with quite a popular direct quote from the series may be an infringement. I've turned this one down for now, as it's only one mug, and I want to follow best practice and not risk getting ourselves in any trouble. We are designers too, and I wouldn't like to find out somebody was profiting from our work without the correct license etc.

Funnily, I've just been out shopping, and looking in the window of a t-shirt/sublimation shop, they have One Direction pencil cases, and Minion mugs advertised...I suppose they may have purchased a license but I'd doubt it somehow :rolleyes:

Looking on eBay there are a tonne of Wonder Woman mugs, alot of which I'm certain are not officially licensed, but I think I'd rather go the legit route with this business!

[spongerobinson]

Surely if its an image of the person herself, with 'I am Wonder Woman' under neath that would be ok wouldn't it ?

I would have no problem doing that.

Its like me putting an image of myself on a Mug and saying 'I'm Batman' !

maybe I mis-understood something here, wouldn't be the first time.

Nik, You are Batman aren't you?!

[GoldRapt]

Sorry I maybe should've worded my original post better!

The original request was for a picture of Wonder Woman with the quote, which I said I couldn't do.

The second request was just for the quote alone, "Of all people, you know who I am...Who the world needs me to be. I am Wonder Woman."

As pisquee mentioned, I'm also assuming "Wonder Woman" is a trademark of some kind, and to use it in the context with quite a popular direct quote from the series may be an infringement. I've turned this one down for now, as it's only one mug, and I want to follow best practice and not risk getting ourselves in any trouble. We are designers too, and I wouldn't like to find out somebody was profiting from our work without the correct license etc.

Funnily, I've just been out shopping, and looking in the window of a t-shirt/sublimation shop, they have One Direction pencil cases, and Minion mugs advertised...I suppose they may have purchased a license but I'd doubt it somehow :rolleyes:

Looking on eBay there are a tonne of Wonder Woman mugs, alot of which I'm certain are not officially licensed, but I think I'd rather go the legit route with this business!

There's no need to "assume", as I stated an image of "Wonder Woman" is copyright to either DC Comics or Warner Bros TV.
Printing "Of all people, you know who I am...Who the world needs me to be. I am Wonder Woman." would not be copyright, as it a statement of fact and not a statement alleging to be the comic/tv character of that name.

[NikGrey]

Well actually....