Answers to your troubling and tricky legal questions.
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WHEN CAN STAMPERS RESELL...
... what they have created?
by Eva-Marie Boyd (August, 2003)
(Note: Eva-Marie has been a practicing attorney for approximately 15
years. During that time she has been President of the Orange County
Barristers, President of her law school alumni association, served
on the Orange County Bar Association Board of Directors for seven
years and as chair of the Orange County Bar Association Legal
Referral Committee for three years. She was a panel attorney for
California Lawyer for the Arts and has lectured for that
organization on copyright issues.)
Q. This month's question comes from the owner of a rubber
stamp store. He writes that over the years this has been a big
question with customers: "Can I use this stamp to make a card,
and then sell that card in a church bazaar, gift shop, online,
etc.?"
A. Once again, as legal issues go, there is no
straightforward answer.
Let's start with the most delineated no-no: licensed characters.
While you may use Mickey Mouse or Sponge Bob on anything you give
away, I would stay away from selling such items.
Then there are the stamps which lack the originality to be
copyrightable. While many manufacturers copyright their entire
catalog, that does not mean that all the individual items are
copyrightable. This would be every day items such as straightforward
letters of the alphabet, fruit, ordinary shapes or phrases, etc. In
other words, any common, everyday item or shape that is not set
forth in a whimsical, unique form.
The stamping industry also has a unique policy that has nothing to
do with copyright law -- the Angel Policy. I have researched this
policy and find that they all differ slightly but are largely the
same. It works like this:
So long as each item (usually greeting cards) is individually
stamped -- no mechanical or electronic reproductions allowed -- non-licensed
items may be used so long as copyright is credited to the
manufacturer.
I have found, however, that most manufacturers frown on using their
stamps for items sold online.
When in doubt, contact the manufacturer and determine their
individual Angel Policy. It is my experience that the policies are
quite liberal and they seem happy to respond.
HAPPY STAMPING!
(
Have any questions regarding copyrights, trademarks, or other
business-related legal issues? Your name will not be used. Mail,
fax, or email your questions to Eva-Marie Boyd, 1160 Catalina St.,
Laguna Beach, CA 92651 fax: 949-497-3148; email LAWDDAW@aol.com.)
xxx
