I just got this email from CafePress. Looks like my “Ronald McDonald hearts your fat kid” bumpersticker is no more:
Dear Shopkeeper,
Thank you for using CafePress.com!
In accordance with our Intellectual Property Rights Policy, Robert E. Browne on behalf of McDonald’s Corporation provided us with a notice stating that your use of McDonald’s character and/or logo infringes upon their intellectual property rights (trademarks). Please click here to for more information about intellectual property.
[snip CafePress shop stuff]
If you believe that you hold the rights to the content alleged to infringe the rights of the third party, we encourage you to contact the alleged rights holder directly for a resolution to this matter. Below please find the contact information for the party alleging infringement.
Well, I never! Actually, I’m surprised it’s taken this long. I’ve had this product up since 2003 and nobody said a word about it. Of course, nobody’s ever bought this particular sticker either, so it’s no biggie. The design was different at first, though. Here was my original idea:
The very next day after uploading it, I got an email saying that using Ronald’s likeness was a no-no. I kinda figured that would happen, but ya never know till ya try, right? (Same thing happened with my “Michael Moore needs a bath” sticker…he just looked so gross in the pic, like he ususally does, but I wasn’t able to keep it.) So I modified the image a bit, and it’s stayed that way for the past 3 years:
So I’ve decided to be a stinker and make full-size copies available for anyone to use as they wish. Just click here and here. Print, stick, paste, whatever!
Also, while Googling some stuff I came across this posting by a blogger who was threatened by McDonald’s lawyers in 2004 for posting a tiny little parody graphic on her site. She wasn’t selling anything with Mickey D’s precious logos or anything, it was just a tiny graphic for her site. Absolutely amazing. Her response to them makes for some great reading, oh yes!
I have a friend who works in a sign shop and I am definitely going to have him make a bumper sticker for me with design #1. I’d tell them to freg off if I was you, as your image clearly falls under the parody category of Fair Use. (I am not a lawyer and blah blah blah, don’t sue me, I’m already broke.)
A little google searching suggests that distributing the parody bumpersticker images for free is a Fair Use, but selling them almost certainly is not. Apparently, Trademark is a stronger protection than copyright.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re on the “right” side of fair use, parody, or whatever. McDonald’s has much more money than you could ever hope for. This speaks much louder in a court of law than justice.