Topic

Glitch Credit

Hello, this message goes out to mainly staff.

I was wanting to make some glitchen merchandise* off of a site that i could. I was wondering how i could give credit or i was wanting your permission to make some merchandise. Can you answer either of these questions? I bet some Glitchen are wondering the same, or they already figured out.

Thanks in advanced,

Taco Assassin

*For my own use not for sale

Posted 9 months ago by Taco Assassin Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • Will these items be free?
    Posted 9 months ago by Sooriyan Subscriber! | Permalink
  • no... im hoping to make a shirt using Customink
    Posted 9 months ago by Taco Assassin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Can't see TS allowing you to use copyrighted material.

    But you could try writing to them with a proper business proposition. 
    Posted 9 months ago by IrenicRhonda Subscriber! | Permalink
  • You can MAKE whatever you want.
    You just can't SELL whatever you want.
    Posted 9 months ago by Volkov Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Volkov:

    Well I may have misunderstood. Although he does use the word 'merchandise' which means an item you sell. But even if it is not for selling, but for your own use  only, you can't necessarily use copyrighted material.
    Posted 9 months ago by IrenicRhonda Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Tell that to cosplayers.
    Posted 9 months ago by Volkov Subscriber! | Permalink
  • so does anyone know the answer? to answer some questions, ive updated
    Posted 9 months ago by Taco Assassin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • so does anyone know the answer? to answer some questions, ive updated
    Posted 9 months ago by Taco Assassin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This has come up before. 

    TS doesn't let people sell Glitch merch. 

    You can make what you want though. (for example, see the glitchirl tag on Flickr)

    You should give credit though. Like, you could write "Copyright © 2012 Tiny Speck" or something. "Glitch is property of Tiny Speck" yada yada
    Posted 9 months ago by Piratice Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I get that, im not wanting to sell anything, or the Glitch IRL tag. All im wanting to do is make a shirt. Piratice, if you answered this, im sorry for beign too stupid to read it. But still if someone anyone can flat-out say if i can or can't, i would be happy
    Posted 9 months ago by Taco Assassin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • You can't.
    Posted 9 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Wow...not being able to make a T-shirt for yourself...seems like a lost opportunity of free advertising for Glitch. Now if the company already sold T-shirts...hmmmmm.
    Posted 8 months ago by BLOOD Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @BLOOD: Stoot has to say you can't or he faces dilution of copyright. He may in the future wish to sell shirts, and would undermine his exclusive right to do so if he gave permission...

    ...however, if someone does something in the privacy of their own bedroom... basically, yes, if you made your own shirt you could be subject to copyright prosecution. But on t-shirt you keep to yourself? I suspect the copyright police won't find you in the next 60 years... now if you make em and start selling them, that motivates the fuzz to come down on you. Capiche?
    Posted 8 months ago by LokiPDX Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Loki, it is not true that giving one person a license to use an image will undermine his exclusive right in the future.

    The  copyright owner can create as many licenses as s/he wants without giving up any of their own rights.  Everything depends on how the licenses are written.  If you are going to be involved in licensing copyrighted material, I strongly suggest you consult with your Intellectual Property attorney to get clear advice about negotiating licenses.  
    Posted 8 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yeah, this is totally moot at this point but you're thinking of trademark that can get diluted, not so much copyright...

    en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tra...
    Posted 8 months ago by katlazam Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yeah, and that trademark thing is a big deal. All the lawyers say, "no."  I recommend letting the issue go and move on. 
    Posted 8 months ago by Carl Projectorinski Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This merch thread has been well explored.
    Many want merch.
    TS is busy making a more awesome game.
    I believe merch shall come, one day, after the devs come up for air.
    What needs to happen is that stoot, TS' marketing manager, an artist or two, and a PR person need to get in one room to have a meeting.
    Then they probably need to get some comps made, and have another meeting.
    Then they need to decide on a roll-out strategy.

    If it were me in that room, the following would be my recommendations:
    a) T-shirts that allow you to print YOUR glitch in a tasteful way, along with some branding on the back or sleeves.
    b) An agreement with some overseas manufacturer to start banging out the cubimals, probably in vinyl, along with an attractive case, probably glitch-branded, and made out of ballistic nylon. The cubimals would be limited edition (think beanie-babies).
    c) coffee cups, glitch branded with your glitch featured.
    d) RL-sized prints of some of the /home artwork.

    Easy enough to do, except for the cubimal roll out.  Limited production runs will allow TS to assess market demand.

    In the meantime, let's be patient while TS focuses on the core goal of making something beautiful.
    Posted 8 months ago by CrashTestPilot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Well, it never occurred to me that anyone would ask if they could make a T-shirt for themselves. "No" is the answer to the question "can I make Glitch merchandise?" (a shirt is a thing you wear; merchandise is something you sell).

    Whether or not adorning an item of your own clothing with a decoration of your own design is a violation of copyright law when that decoration is visually similar to an image for which someone else owns the copyright … that's a question that you'd need a real law-person to decide. :)
    Posted 8 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I work full time as a designer for a marketing team in a company that does not do marketing for a business.  Crashtestpilot has the process down pat!  We do that every day.  It is a full time job.  For six people.

    Stoot is right, you'll probably have to ask a lawyer directly before making anything for your personal use.  But, I do know that when trademarks are in question, our own lawyers tend to get WAY more uptight than when copyrights are in question...
    Posted 8 months ago by Carl Projectorinski Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Carl Projectorinski:  That's because trademarks are far, far more cut-and-dry than copyright (at least in the US). 

    There's not really any such thing at "fair use" when it comes to trademarks (i.e., if someone says you can't use a trademark in/on your book/t-shirt/poster/whatever, then you can't).  Copyright fair use tends to be more lenient (at least in the US).  Sooooooo, while fair use of an image is certainly in play, there are usually ways of doing things where you can put fan art on a personal t-shirt and no one will bat an eye (since the image has been transformed, and you are not making money off of it).  Helps if you screenprint it at home instead of having a company print it for you, since most online t-shirt print shops have stricter-than-necessary terms of service in order to cover their butts.

    That said, Grem Sketch is not a professional law-type-person (he leans more toward the Chaotic Neutral end of the spectrum), and should not be considered an expert on pretty much anything.  Ever.

    Good luck!
    Posted 8 months ago by Grem Sketch Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Exactly!
    Posted 8 months ago by Carl Projectorinski Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I love the fact that as smart as stoot is (demonstrably) we can still come up with puzzling questions.
    And that he responds to them.

    I love being on Ur.
    Posted 8 months ago by CrashTestPilot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I concUr!
    Posted 8 months ago by Carl Projectorinski Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I really didn't want to get lawyers and Pandas and such involved in such a matter. If Stoot says no, ill leave it at that.
    Posted 8 months ago by Taco Assassin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The "TS is too busy" line is starting to wear thin.  Everything imaginable can and is being outsourced. It is easier and quicker than you can imagine.

    Tiny Speck could put the design up as one job on Fiverr and the setup of a CafePress (or similar) store as another job on Fiverr. 

    In three days, at a cost of $10, Glitch could be selling everything from hoodies to baby clothes to mugs and more. (If I was going to do it I would hire 2 people for each job and then go with the ones that did the best work, so it would cost $20. But they could probably get away with doing it for $10.)

    They would have an additional income stream, a lot of happy and grateful customers and a ton of free advertising. Also, once this is set up, they would have a source of swag for promotions and contests etc.

    Too busy just doesn't make any sense as an excuse.

    So why not do it?  I have racked my brain and the only thing I can come up with is that they want to leave this income stream untapped to make it more attractive if the business was put up for sale.

    That sounds horrible. Can anyone think of a better (other than "too busy") reason why TS would not take this simple and super advantageous step?
    Posted 8 months ago by Miss Bobbit Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Well Stoot, do you or Tiny Speck give us permission to make Glitchy stuff, but not sell it? Since I thought that people could use material with permission
    Posted 8 months ago by AwesomeCardinal2000 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I am in this business, and have been for nearly 20 years, and I can say with a certain amount of authority "TS is too busy" still a perfectly reasonable explanation, even with outsourcing.  Outsourcing is expensive and you still need a creative team to work with your contractors in order to make sure everything is done right.

    In software design, the crunch toward to end of release time is notoriously intense.  I honestly think they are waiting until they are done focusing on their release date in order to do everything right.

    I, for one, admire their restraint.
    Posted 8 months ago by Carl Projectorinski Subscriber! | Permalink
  • You guys are right about my trademark vs. copyright mistake...

    But I would say if someone wants to really make merch, they should write up a formal business proposal and fire it off to TS. Who knows? Let the TS people do their happy software thing and maybe you're the merch adjunct/outsourcer. 
    Posted 8 months ago by LokiPDX Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Miss Bobbit: How about the fact that Glitch is still in beta? 

    'Too busy' is not an excuse. It's a reason. There's a difference.
    Posted 8 months ago by Piratice Subscriber! | Permalink
  • So one time I wanted a t-shirt of a character I liked that was copyrighted. I printed out a high-quality image on iron-transfer paper and ironed it onto my T-shirt. :)
    Posted 8 months ago by KatGamer Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "… the only thing I can come up with is that they want to leave this income stream untapped to make it more attractive if the business was put up for sale" — how does this even make sense???

    The reason we haven't done it yet is that we haven't been happy with any of the stuff we've tried and we won't sell crap (so using CafePress/Zazzle/Spreadshirt isn't going to cut it). Doing a good job of things takes time. It'll happen.
    Posted 8 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • And, there you have it.
    Thanks and kudos to TS for being brave enough to not "sell crap."
    Seriously, how many businesses do you know that, oh, I don't know, have principles?

    Rock on, stoot.
    Posted 8 months ago by CrashTestPilot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thank you stoot!
    Posted 8 months ago by RJStormRider Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Can we please please please have Threadless loves Glitch?
    Posted 8 months ago by Coriander Fitzbilly Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I am with Crashtestpilot - I am impressed with the integrity demonstarated by stoot's answer. YAY TS!!! I will just have to wait for my Glitchy travel mug and mouse pad.
    Posted 8 months ago by Kookaburra Subscriber! | Permalink
  • *giant sized travel mug...you mean. Sure the giants get thirsty too
    Posted 8 months ago by Thursday Soleil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I crochet and have made 'myself' as an amigurumi figure and I'm now making a Rube (because I love him dearly). I will however have them forever on my bedside table and have no intention of even taking photo's of them so as not to have any problems. 
    I presumed that was ok!
    Posted 8 months ago by Zira Subscriber! | Permalink
  • From what ive heard Zira, thats okay. Ive seen people make cubis in real life... ...only if you use glitch trademarks such as the gltich logo on shirts lol
    Posted 8 months ago by Taco Assassin Subscriber! | Permalink