Can You Legally Use Famous Quotes in Your Craft Business?

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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, you cannot use quotes in your craft business unless you have written permission from the person who said it or the quote is in public domain. To explain this better, let’s look at some examples:

• Quote: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” -Abraham Lincoln, 1858
  • Can you legally use this quote in a small business? YES. You can legally use quotes in small business that are in the public domain. Generally, quotes said before 1923 are in public domain because the protection on them is now expired. However, it is wise to check the TESS database to make sure that someone hasn’t come along since it entered public domain and somehow trademarked it.
• Quote: “Memory… is the diary that we all carry about with us.” -Oscar Wilde
  • Can you legally use this quote in a small business? YES. While I couldn’t find the date for the quote, Oscar Wilde died in 1900. Since he said the quote before his death, it is in the public domain and is from before 1923. If you are looking for quotes that are safe to use from before 1923, do a search on Google for ‘Famous quotes before 1923″. You’ll have plenty to choose from.
• Quote: “Together, we will make America strong again.” -President Donald Trump
  • Can you legally use this quote in a small business? NO. But, what if you attribute the quote to Donald Trump on the product? (Example: Put the quote on a shirt and add “-Donald Trump” after it.) It wouldn’t matter. You would still need to get written permission from Donald Trump to use the quote because it was said after 1923.

How Do You Get Permission to Use a Quote from after 1923?

If you’d like to use a quote said after 1923, you’ll need permission from the author of the quote. You can reach out to the author via mail, email, social media, and so on. A good place to find contact information for famous people is their website. The most important thing to remember is that you need written permission that includes your business name. You’ll want to keep this information on file in case anything comes up. If the author or speaker has passed, you can reach out to the estate, family members, or public relations departments.

Let’s sum it up:

• Safe to use: Quotes before 1923. Quotes where you have permission from the author/speaker.
• Not safe to use: Quotes from after 1923 without permission. Quotes even with an attribute from after 1923.

Remember, an informed business owner is a good business owner.

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Christine Schinagl, Cutting for Business

Since 2015, Christine Schinagl has been helping crafters start and run craft businesses through her blog, Cutting for Business. As a Silhouette and Cricut crafter herself, she has a unique take on what works and what doesn’t work in the craft business world. She also enjoys teaching other crafters how to create digital SVG designs, available through the Design with Me series.

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