Let’s talk about something today – trademark infringement. I spend a great deal of time on the blog detailing things you can and can’t do legally in your craft business related to copyrights and trademarks. In fact, there’s a whole section dedicated to trademarks on the Cutting for Business blog that you can view here. …
Copyright and Trademarks
Before you start listing items for sale, or even designing them – let’s talk licenses on cut files. Licenses are a big deal when making items for sale, as misuse of a license can potentially mean you will be sued. Whether you are making paper cards, vinyl designs, apparel, or anything else – there are many …
If you are going to be selling products made with your Silhouette or Cricut, you’ve got to learn the basics of trademarks. I’ve written extensively about trademarks in this section on the blog. But, that isn’t enough. You’ve got to learn how to search the TESS (Trademark Electronic Search System) database, because TESS is the …
Some days it seems that every saying, phrase, word, and design is trademarked. It’s frustrating to me, and I know that it is also frustrating to you. Then, I see crafters talking about trademarking their own phrases and sayings. So today, I’m sharing my thoughts on trademarking – specifically: Is it worth it for a …
Trademarks. Many people hate them – and I fully understand that. I mean, in a world without trademarks, you could make big bucks on anything and everything. Unfortunately, that’s not the way the world of intellectual property works. Lately, I’ve seen any number of myths (and excuses!) crafters keep using to justify infringing on trademarks. …
Public Service Announcement: Using ‘Not Your Photo’, or ‘Not Yours’, or ‘Not Your Picture’, or ‘Mine’ as a watermark across your product photos is not effective. Unfortunately, I keep seeing crafters using generic, blanket statements across product photos or photos they share in crafting groups. I wanted to take a minute today to highlight that …
Happy 2024! Remember that recent article I wrote about copyright laws in the US? I briefly mentioned something called public domain. Public domain is what happens when copyrighted works expire. Sometimes they expire because the term has run out; sometimes they expire because they aren’t renewed. In any case, when the copyright expires – it …
Lately, it seems that Cutting for Business readers are becoming more aware of trademark infringements – and the sheer number of them in the handmade community. In the last few weeks, I have received several emails asking how to report trademark infringements they see online. Large companies and corporations have entire teams dedicated to looking …
Today, let’s take a few minutes to look at quotes. Included in this are quotes by celebrities, politicians, writers, and so on. Specifically, we are going to talk about using these quotes on products you sell in your Silhouette or Cricut based small business. Can You Legally Use Quotes in Your Craft Business? In general, …