i just had a great idea last night and registered the domain name www. pittsburgh vintage tees.com and i was going to resell all those great vintage Pittsburgh related tshirts i find: 1. in my closet 2. at goodwill or salvation army (could be local business/sports/etc related) 3. that i create Then as i was making the website i was thinking... is it even legal to resell these t-shirts? I know this isnt really a web question - but since it is pertaining to the online sale of t-shirts i figured this forum was worth a shot. my questions are: 1. If i try to sell a tshirt that i didnt create is it legal? I would believe so since you can sell the stuff on ebay/amazon/goodwill stores without copyright/trademark infringement. 2. If it is legal, would i have to include a disclaimer saying that "i didnt create these t-shirts and these t-shirts are the property of Me and i am selling them to You." any help in this area would be greatly appreciated.
Rest easy. You can sell your old shirts. Where you could get into trouble would be if you copied the design of an old shirt and made new ones using that design. Depending on the facts, that could create issues. But selling your actual old shirts, no problem.
thanks Ray - that makes me rest MUCH easier. I see you're location is Spain - but you are speaking of US law here right?
Yes. But let me be clear - I am not your lawyer, we do not have an attorney-client relationship, and I am just speaking generally about a general legal topic. If you feel that you really must have advice specific to you personally, there is no option but to hire a lawyer. There may also be issues other than trademark and copyright. For example, there may or may not be state or federal regulations covering the sale of used clothing from a health perspective. I have no insights on stuff like that.
shouldn't be a problem, but I would suspect you'll have a bigger market if you put them on ebay (you can include a link to your site in the auctions)
good idea cutter - i have been wrestling with that idea from the start as well. i think it may be easier - and also guard me from some of the seller hazards - if i put them on ebay.
oh yeah, i have some friends doing well with this same business model...but went big. Either way, small biz or large..you are good to go.