- Hey, everyone, so today,
we're gonna talk about
how to not get sued
when starting a Print On Demand business.
Because you see,
I sometimes get these comments.
Sarah, such and such Print On Demand website,
like Redbubble or Teespring or Etsy,
they're shutting down stores.
And they're doing it without any warning.
How dare they?
Sarah, what's going on?
How can they do this?
And well, frankly, the most common reason
that someone's store gets shut down,
is because they are breaking the law.
So today, I'm gonna take this mystery viewer
who gave me their Redbubble store to review,
and show you some of the products in it.
And show you why all of these products
are risking getting the Redbubble account shut down
for being, well, illegal.
And actually guys,
I'm editing this video right now,
so I decided to check out the Redbubble store,
and yeah, it's already been shut down.
Probably for the things
that I'm gonna talk about in this video.
And, so if you're an older subscriber,
and you're thinking,
but Sarah, I know all this stuff already.
As you can see,
a lot of my newer subscribers don't
because they haven't taken the time
to watch those videos.
So I need to make this one
so that they understand
why places like Redbubble
are shutting them down,
so that they can start again,
but not make these same mistakes twice.
And also, because we are veering into legal issues,
you know, I have to get the cliched YouTube disclaimer,
I am not a lawyer.
This video is not official legal advice.
This is for entertainment purposes only.
You should not use some random YouTuber on the internet
for your official legal advice
unless they are LegalEagle.
But yes, to me,
this is actually a pretty big deal
because I have a friend
that was slapped with a
$10,000 law suit (register chiming)
for using images illegally
that they shouldn't have (chuckles).
Ouch.
But you know what?
Lawsuits, getting sued,
none of that is fun.
And here are Wholesale Ted,
my goal isn't just to make educational videos,
it's to make fun videos too.
So I decided to go ahead,
and make this video a little more interesting.
Yes, due to super popular demand,
dancing videos are back, yay! (chuckles)
I, kind of, stopped making these videos
because, while some of you guys like them,
clearly, many of you don't, as well.
So if you do like my dancing quiz videos.
I'd really appreciate it if you'd go ahead,
and give this video a like to offset
the incredibly high dislike ratio
my dancing videos tend to get.
So if you haven't seen
one of my dancing quiz videos before,
here is what's gonna happen.
I'm gonna show you a mystery product
that one of my subscribers
is indeed selling on Redbubble,
and you have five seconds to try to guess,
why their product is illegal to sell.
And if you successfully guess
why their product was, indeed, illegal to sell,
you win points, yay! (bell chiming)
Play along, and see how many you can guess right.
So let me know how many you won
in the comments section below.
So to start this off,
we are playing for 10 points.
(paper rustling)
Okay, so here's product number one.
Why do you think that this product and design
is not okay to sell?
You have five seconds to guess.
Go.
(timer ticking)
(timer dinging)
All right, time's up.
(drums rattling) Drum roll, please.
The answer is,
this image is protected by copyright.
Okay, so here's the deal, guys.
I've noticed that so many of you,
selling on places like Redbubble and Teespring,
are just coming to Google Images,
looking for pictures and photos,
and slapping them onto products.
And that is not okay.
Copyright is a type of intellectual property law.
And it means that if somebody
makes a piece of creative work,
that they have the exclusive rights
to recreate their creative work.
And just to clarify,
you don't need to register copyright.
The moment you make any type of creative work,
it is protected by default.
Most countries around the world,
including China, have this law.
You only need to register your copyright officially,
if you choose to sue someone
for using your creative work.
And you can do this retroactively.
And creative work refers to things that people create,
usually, artistic expressions.
And, of course, that includes things
such as drawings, music, paintings, sculptures,
and, you guessed it, photography.
Yes, photos are protected
under copyright law too.
So if you wanted to use a photo
that you did not take
on top of a product,
you'd either have to get permission
from the person who did take the photo,
or purchase a license to resell it.
And I am 99% certain
that my viewer did not get permission,
or purchase the legal rights
to use this photo,
before they slapped it onto this product.
And as I said earlier,
at the start of this video,
I have a friend,
Now, he has a blog,
not a print on demand store,
but it's a pretty popular blog.
And he was using images
that he just found on Google Images on it.
And he got slapped for a lawsuit,
that was over $10,000.
Why? Well, because he was just coming to Google,
and doing searches for popular celebrities,
and using their images
throughout his blog posts
that discussed them.
And funnily enough,
these images here,
they were taken by photographers
who sell licenses to big companies
that want to use them exclusively.
And so one of the most notorious companies
for slapping lawsuits
onto normal everyday people,
Getty Images,
hit him with a lawsuit.
And he came to me,
and he's like, "Sarah, what should I do?"
And I was like,
"Dude, I am not a lawyer.
This is not official legal advice.
This does not replace the advice from a lawyer.
You need to go seek a lawyer ASAP."
And so luckily he did,
and as we discovered.
In New Zealand,
Getty Images can't just sue you
a random number for damages.
They have to sue you
for actual damages.
And in this case here,
the actual damages were that
he hadn't paid the licensing fees.
So his lawyer sent back a letter saying that,
he'd pay the licensing fees,
and he did.
But in the USA,
it's a whole other kettle of fish.
In America, lawsuits are crazy.
It's almost like they can just
make up a random number
for damages that they want.
And, so honestly,
I just don't think it's worth it
to come to Google Images,
and just rip photos from here,
hoping that no one will catch you.
I mean, you might get away with it.
Or you might be like The Content Factory
that took a random photo
someone took of Omaha, Nebraska.
And he ended up getting sued
for $8,000,
which they managed to negotiate
down to $3,000.
Yikes!
But that doesn't mean
that you can't use free images on the internet.
There is a way to do it.
Be sure to common search for pictures
where the creator has explicitly in writing
deemed creation to have this,
a Creative Commons license.
On Google Images,
you can filter the results to show photos
that they believe have a Creative Commons license.
And I'd still recommend
that you do a reverse image search
just to make sure
they aren't also up on a paid image site,
like Shutterstock.
But this can be a great way
to search for photos and pictures
that are free to use,
even on commercial products
that you were selling,
such as T-shirts, phone cases,
and things like that on Redbubble.
Of course, I do understand
that a lot of people get confused, after all.
People often infringe on copyrights a lot online.
So why is it then
that some people get slapped with a lawsuit,
and taken down,
while some people don't get taken down.
Well, honestly,
it's just kind of luck.
Big brands like Disney
that have extremely popular IPs
don't have enough time in the day
to send down takedown notices
to literally everyone infringing on it.
I remember earlier this year,
there was a ton of Baby Yoda merch
uploaded to Etsy.
And it was selling like crazy
since Baby Yoda was ridiculously popular.
Well, what ended up happening
was that some Etsy stores
got slapped by Disney.
But not all of them, just some of them.
And while it didn't seem fair
as to why some got slapped and some didn't,
the answer is just simply
that Disney doesn't have enough time
to slap them all.
Which means, I know that
some of my more younger viewers,
who are more interested in making a quick buck,
will try their luck anyway.
Well, consider yourself warned, my friend.
Creating unique products
is just one out of three things
that you need to consider
when making great products to sell
with print on demand.
And I revealed the other two things
inside my free e-book,
"The 6 Steps That 6 Figure Online Stores
Follow To Make $10,000+ A Month".
And you'll find a link to download that e-book
in the video description below.
But anyway, back to the video.
Now, see there is another question
that I'm also often asked, and
it's kind of the opposite to this dude (chuckles).
"Sarah, I'm afraid of infringing on copyrights.
How do I search to see if my design
is infringing on them?"
And well, there is no way
to actually do this.
Because of the fact that
copyright is issued by default, legally,
no one needs to register for them.
By registering copyrights,
it makes the process of suing people faster.
But that's it.
Because of that,
there is no way to search for copyrights.
So you can't check,
but luckily,
you can do something else.
And that is use common sense.
In my opinion,
if you draw a picture
from your own inspiration or idea,
or you type out a slogan yourself
from your own creative idea,
the chances of someone somewhere
coming up with the exact same design
or exact same picture
or exact same word out,
are so teensy tiny,
if it was actually your own inspiration
that made it.
So you probably,
don't need to overthink it.
It's when you start using characters
from movies and games,
and to take advantage
of popular recognizable brands and characters,
and look for loopholes to do this,
that you are truly risking breaking the law.
And let's be honest,
we know when we're trying to take advantage
of a popular brand.
Use common sense, teen.
So did you guess right?
If so, congratulations,
you won 10 points. (bell chiming)
But if you didn't, that's okay
because we are going to play again,
this time for 10 points.
Now, this product here
was created by a Redbubble seller,
and it is piggybacking off
of a popular recognizable picture.
And this seller is making
passive income and money,
but they're doing it legally.
And it is this here.
Why is it legal to print
this famous painting onto products,
and sell them yourself?
You have five seconds to guess.
Go.
(timer ticking)
(timer dinging)
All right, time's up.
(drums rattling) Drum roll, please.
The answer is,
this popular picture
has now entered the public domain.
See, here's the thing.
If creative works, like a painting
has entered the public domain,
it means that anyone can use it
for both personal and commercial purposes.
So the thing about copyrights
is, if like Shakespeare,
you created your creative work, such as the play
before copyrights existed,
then, no copyright protections
for your work exist.
Instead, it is already
part of the public domain by default.
In addition, (paper rustling)
even if your creative work was created
when copyrights existed,
like this painting, The Garden of Death,
then the copyright protections don't last forever.
In most countries,
copyright protections
only last between 50 to 70 years
after the original creator has died.
And while the USA does have some extra laws,
courtesy of Disney trying to protect Mickey Mouse,
Hugo Simberg who painted The Garden of Death,
died in 1917.
That was over a hundred years ago.
That means that the copyright protections
on this painting have well expired,
and it's now part of the public domain.
So did you guess right?
If so, congratulations,
you've won 10 points. (bell chiming)
But if you didn't, that's okay
because we are playing again for 15 points.
And this time, we're gonna be going back
to my viewer's Redbubble store,
and looking at another product that is illegal.
All right, here is the product.
Now, yes, this product
definitely has copyright infringement,
but that's not the only reason
why this product may be illegal to sell.
There is another reason.
Can you figure out
what the second reason is?
You have five seconds to guess.
Go.
(timer ticking)
(timer dinging)
All right, time's up.
(drums rattling) Drum roll, please.
The answer is
this infringes
on Robert Lewandoski's personality rights.
And I'm also really sorry for you soccer,
or as you say in Europe,
football fans out there
because I am 99% certain
that I just butchered Robert's name.
Personality rights are a little-known law that,
while my longtime subscribers will know about,
most people have never heard about before.
What the law says,
is that you are not allowed
to put someone's picture or name on a product,
and sell it without their permission.
And, of course, this makes sense
because there is a huge amount of goodwill
that is associated with individual people.
And piggybacking off of it
can be extremely lucrative.
Now, I know this
because people are regularly using
my image like this,
to sell their products.
I've had people download my videos illegally,
and use them to advertise
scammy products on TikTok.
Well, I'll tell you now.
I have no ads on TikTok, at all.
They download my videos,
and edit it to make it look like
I am endorsing their products.
And I have AliExpress suppliers
who rip my thumbnails,
and add ticks to them
to make it look like
I'm recommending their products.
Well, I'll tell you now.
I endorse no products on AliExpress, at all.
But you know what?
It works.
People genuinely get confused,
and actually think I'm endorsing it.
And this is just one of the reasons
that personality rights laws exist.
But there is a limitation to this law, though.
Because you see,
unlike copyright law,
which is universally accepted
in most countries around the world,
personality rights is not.
Each country has to make its own laws about this.
Although for most of my viewers,
it might be, is that your country
will have a law in place
to protect celebrities' personality rights
if you just do a quick Google search.
The real interesting one, though, is the USA,
because in the USA, unlike copyright law,
which is a federal law,
in the USA, it's a state law,
and some states don't actually have it.
Although frankly, I'm willing to bet
that if Robert or his managers
would've asked Redbubble
to take down these products
due to his personality rights being infringed on,
they'd probably do it in a heartbeat,
regardless of asking
Where they're due to individual state laws,
selling this might be okay.
Just like with copyrights,
this can be kind of confusing
because so many people
seem to be breaking this law,
and getting away with it.
So what's up?
Well, honestly it gets pretty simple.
They just haven't been caught yet.
But there is one type of celebrity
that is way less likely to get upset.
And that is politicians, especially presidents.
It's generally considered to be beneath politicians,
or anyone in a political position
to get mad about their image
being used on products,
even negative ones.
So it's colloquially accepted.
Coming up with unique designs
can be a challenge,
but using websites for research and inspiration
can be a big help.
It's something I discussed
in my Print on Demand course,
"The Ecomm Clubhouse".
If you're interested in seeing
if that course is right for you,
I'll have a link to it
in the video description below.
So did you guess it right?
If you did, congratulations.
you won 15 points. (bell chiming)
But if you didn't, that's okay.
Because there's another chance to win.
And this time we are playing for five points.
Can you guess why this is absolutely,
100% illegal to sell?
You have five seconds to guess.
Go.
(timer ticking)
(timer dinging)
All right, time's up.
(drums rattling) Drum roll, please.
The answer is,
this product infringes
on Gucci's trademark.
I mean, think about it.
Gucci literally sells their logo
on products for clothing
for hundreds to thousands of dollars each.
This is an extremely valuable brand.
So yeah, they ain't gonna be happy,
if you steal their valuable logo,
and sell it on a T-shirt on Redbubble.
So company logos,
such as, Gucci's logo
are a little bit different.
Usually, they aren't protected
under copyright law per se.
Instead, what they're protected under,
is trademark law.
This is a law that specifically protects
recognizable icons, designs, and ticks
that you would normally associate with a company,
or products and services.
Trademarks must be registered.
So if you wanted to sell the Gucci logo,
but you somehow didn't know
that it was protected by trademarks,
you could've come to the USA trademark search,
and found out if one had been registered.
Of course, the reality is, is that,
almost all company logos have been registered.
So if you apply common sense to this,
there is no need to bother doing a search (chuckles).
Something else that's important
to keep in mind is that,
as we've established,
if you draw a picture,
in most countries,
it is immediately protected by copyright.
But trademarks aren't the same.
You have to register them
in every single country
that you want to protect them in.
And that's actually,
what lead to a really interesting court case
with Burger King in Australia.
Burger King decided in the 1970s
that they wanted to open up shop in Australia.
There was just one problem.
The trademark for the name, Burger King,
had already been taken
by a takeaway shop in Adelaide.
Because of this,
Burger King ended up acquiring
a different local, fast-food chain,
Hungry Jack's.
If you go inside these,
they look identical to Burger King.
And they have the exact same menu as Burger King.
Why? Well, because they are Burger King.
And because the Burger King Corporation
couldn't acquire the trademark,
they had to call themselves
something else in Australia.
However, if you are selling on Redbubble,
since they make and ship
all of the products out of the USA,
if whatever you were trying to knock off
has a trademark in the USA,
then, my guess is that
if they are alerted to it,
that they will kick you off their website ASAP.
So did you guess it right?
If so, congratulations,
you've won five points. (bell chiming)
But if you didn't, that's okay
because there is another chance to win.
And we are now playing for 10 points.
All right, this time around,
your mission is to figure out
what are all of the things
wrong with this picture?
What are all of the reasons
that this picture is illegal?
You have five seconds to guess.
Go.
(timer ticking)
(timer dinging)
All right, time's up.
Drum roll, please. (drums rattling)
The answer is,
because it's breaking all of the three laws
that we have discussed in this video.
Yup, I did a reverse image search,
and I can see that this viewer
did not draw this picture themselves,
but they took it off the internet.
And I couldn't find any evidence
that this picture has a
Creative Commons license on it, at all.
And, of course, given how famous Neymar Jr. is,
I'm sure him and his management team
and the owners of the club
very much intend to protect his personality rights,
and profit, exclusively, off of him
and his goodwill, as much as possible.
And this picture also features this,
the logo of the club that he's a part of,
Paris Saint Germain,
which is indeed trademarked
because surprise, surprise.
The club enjoys making money
by selling its logo on T-shirts itself.
So how many points did you win?
Let me know in the comments section below.
And if this video helped you, (paper rustling)
please subscribe, and hit that
little notification bell, (bell chiming)
so that you don't miss out on any of my videos.
And if you'd like some inspiration
on how you can create your own unique designs,
I have a great video
that you should watch,
10 tips to create T-shirts that sell.
So go ahead,
watch my next video,
and I'll see you over there.