Discussion:
What is the name of your state? GA
Hi,
Have a design for new college t-shirt. Incorporated into the design is school mascot (registered trademark of college). The college will/does license use of mascot image for commercial products. The questions that I have about copyrighting my design are:
1. Can I copyright the design with embedded mascot?
2. If I can copyright and a third party wants to produce t-shirt design would they need to have license from college to use trademark AND license from me to use design?
Thanks for any guidance.
Anne
Answer:
1. Can I copyright the design with embedded mascot? Yes, if the work is otherwise copyrightable.
2. If I can copyright and a third party wants to produce t-shirt design would they need to have license from college to use trademark AND license from me to use design? It depends. If you get a license to use the mascot, and the license allows you to sell (or license) your work to another, then the third party would only need a license from you. Otherwise, they will need a license from both you and the school.
But you know you can't legally sell or license your work to a third party without a license use the mascot, right?