Copyright acknowledgements/payments

[jackthehat]

I hope that I can make this as clear as possible as briefly as possible;

1. If I was to set up a business printing well-known quotes onto T-shirts, is there any obligation to acknowledge the originator ?

2. If I were to directly 'lift' odd-ball definitions from a single book and print those onto T-shirts, I assume that there would be some 'copyright/acknowledgement/payment' obligation ?
What is it, and how best to discharge it ?

Thank you kindly..............

[Gmcd01]

1) It depends entirely upon the quotes, and who said them. Some quotes are directly attributable to people, either in speech or texts. If you wanted something like 'better late than never', then no, you don't need to credit the originator. This is either because the saying was coined by someone who has been deceased for more than 70 years, or because the phrase came about from language's evolution and the public conscience, and isn't attributable to any one person. (See no.2 below for extra information)

2) If you want something like 'get busy living or get busy dying', which is my favourite quote from the Shawshank Redemption, then you're on shakier ground. The script of this film is copyrighted, and it's arguable that you're taking a substantial part of the work that you had access to. Bear in mind that substantiality can be measured qualitatively, and not just quantitatively. I can't say for sure if you would be infringing- that's a matter to be argued in a court- but I'd be wary of doing this.
If you do want to use well known phrases that are copyrighted- music lyrics or modern film quotes, for example- you will need a licence from the copyright holder ( who may not be the same person/company as the creator). Follow this link for preliminary information: http://www.cla.co.uk/ . In these cases it isn't enough to simply credit the author, as your actions with the copyright don't fall under any permitted acts in UK law.

[tamborine]

Best to pick quotes of the deceased - less likely to be hit by copyright, ie

"I had a dream" Martin Luther King

or

"Froth & bubbles" HRH Diana POW

[Gmcd01]

No Tamborine, as I explain, copyright lasts for 70 years after the death of the last surviving author in the UK, so if you use MLK's classic speech, copyright would subsist until 2038, by my counting. Just because one is dead, doesn't mean their estate cannot (and will not) sue for copyright infringement.
Of course, I am presuming that the particular quote is actually copyrightable (I would suggest it is in this case), and I believe you mean "have a dream" rather than "had":
http://www.americanrh...es/mlkihaveadream.htm

[jackthehat]

Thankyou for your comprehensive answer, Gmcd01...............this obviously needs a great deal more investigation.

This came about during an idle conversation of ways to generate a new business opportunity for not a great deal of initial outlay and rather than thinking up 'new amusing motifs and Legends', to fall back on well-known, pithy or recently discovered 'bon-mots'.

May I ask, if you are still around, a couple of additional questions ;
1. Does the 70-year rule count for all ?
2. Does the nature of the item have any impact, for example, table-mats rather than t-shirts ?

[Gmcd01]

1) In the UK, the rule of copyright's expiration is 70 years after the last surviving author (in cases of joint works). This is for literary, musical, dramatic and artistic works. For sound recordings and broadcasts, the term is 50 years. For typographical arrangements (such as newspaper layouts), the term is 25 years. For films, the term is also 70 years after the death of either the principal director, the screenplay author, etc etc. I could go on, but I won't!
This simple principle takes up many pages of a statute book because of the number of ways a work can be created/released/authored. The trouble with using scripts is that the author usually sells it to a company, who have unlimited life as a corporate entity- that's why copyright mentions the original author, otherwise copyright could be prolonged indefinitely. There are also questions about where the work was published and what copyright regime it falls under. If you wanted to use movie quotes, you're not using a film, you're using a literary work (the script), so the term of copyright is life plus 70 years.

2) No, there's no difference between how you use the display the work for commercial benefit. When you infringe copyright, the courts look at how much of the original work you used, not how you use it (except in one very dodgy case!).
The only time that this would be a relevant consideration is when you're working on the licencing agreement, as you would likely only arrange the licence for a certain product/time/number of goods e.g.: 500 scarves or for 6 months etc. You'd probably find that there would be restrictions on what you could do with it too- for example, if you somehow licenced the use of Everton's Trademarked football badge, they wouldn't allow you to transpose it onto red scarves (Red being the colour of hated rivals Liverpool, in case you don't follow football!)

[jackthehat]

Once more I am indebted to you.

I hope you have a peaceful and enjoyable Thursday :o)