tnwalkinghorse

Flee Market Sign Shop is it Legal?

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Ok...I have a question that may or may not have been brought up here before.  While visiting a local Flee Market this weekend, I stoped by the vinyl cutting booth to see what all the traffic was about.  People picking up banners, requesting names to be cut in vinyl etc.  It was a very busy booth at the market.  However, this is the 2nd or 3rd time I have slowed down to look at this booth.  What did I see this time, but a customer buying a "FORD" vinyl graphic for his truck.  The second time I was there, they were cutting out a "CHEVY" emblem for a customer. 

My question is, how can a sign shop do this openly in the public and not get in trouble, but yet they are placing fines on Ebay store owners left and right for doing this.  AND...is this type of business illegal, or is it legal since the "customer" requested it and the sign shop is not advertising it.  This is a Sign Shop that also has a store front.  I don't know, but I have turned down request to do this type of work for the fear of being "busted".  I create my own original pieces, or buy legal pieces that they allow us to cut in vinyl and resell.  Anyway, this has been bugging me, so I thought I would get some ones expertise on this subject to please share what you know.  Please help clarify this.  THANKS!!!  :-)

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It is Illegal and they have been lucky so far. The main reason they are cracking down on ebay is it takes alot less man power to scower ebay than it would to hit all the flea markets.

I am stearing clear of the trademarked stuff unless I have permission personally.

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just to let you know several years ago some people i know were embroidering images on t-shirts at our local flea market with Disney characters, bought a disc thought it was okay to do ,local police seized everything there as evidence against them, i cost them alot of money and no more t-shirts of any kind , if the cutter gets caught he may loss everthing he has got, there is a guy doing it at our local flea market with vinyl every week, i wont rat on him sell all he wants to , but somebody will and when they do he is gonna be in big trouble, dont let it be you the one they catch

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Well, that's what bothers me.  I would not touch all this copyright stuff, yet so many people are doing it, and do it so openly.  I mean, what happens if I were the copyright police (is there such a thing) and asked them to make me a vinyl Chevy or Ford sticker..and they did.  I can close down the shop right then and there. 

Funny about the embroidery person, because there also use to be a embroidery booth there as well, and they disappeared overnight!  lol  Anyway, crazy topic.  I am not the person to rant out someone either, unless it was my stuff.  Who do you call on this stuff anyway? 

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+ 1 , What Ammo said

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this is funny...at teh same flea market, you will probably find bootleg CDs and DVDs...knockoff watches, handbags...clothes....not to mention guns. IT's just too easy to do,and the chance of getting caught is so small.

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yep you are correct but its not going to be me getting busted

they will get caught it's just a matter of when  :thumbsup:

hmmmmm anybody know where i can get a job as a copywrite police???

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See and that's where it's not fair.  Someone like me, would want to go in their and be original and legal.  So it bothers me that these people can go in there and do this so openly and make all this (illegal) money and not even worry about anything.  I mean the decals are being handed right to the customers in front of everyone...oh yeah...saw a "Browning" decal as well.  They have been doing so good at this that they opened a store down the road where they can sell Monday - Thursday.  I have turned down so many request for copyrighted decals, it's not even funny.  However, I plan to be in business for the next 10 years too!  It's not worth it.

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Speedoggy,

That article just reminded me of my trip to mall recently.  I saw a Kiosk selling designer sun glasses....however, their marketing trickery included a saying in small letters "similar to..." and then the brand name.  I wonder how they get away with this? 

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It is ironic , could be more illegal stuff around that flea market also , but Big Brother goes after "deep pockets ' . I had a business friend who was doing bad stuff . I told him he would loose all the illegal money & all of the legal money he was making plus get a bad reputation if he was busted . He was & while standing in the court bldg talking to the prosecutor & policemen , his wife pointed out the window to the street corner ( in Annapolis , Md ) where drugs deals were going down every few minutes . She asked why they didn't do anything to them... she got told they didn't have anything of value to confiscate . Values .............

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Yep , many times reality is stranger than fiction .

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Went to an annual county fair this weekend and saw the very same thing. A huge booth with MANY people buying decals. I stopped to look and I couldn't believe how many images they had for sale and virtual all of them copyright material. He had em all, chevy, ford, calvin, etc etc etc I thought the same, how can they do this and no one say anything. I guess they fig by the time they get shut down they will already have the money in their pockets to outweigh the lawyer costs?

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Hey Tory ,

Like the guy I knew & everybody in jail.. they were NOT going to get caught  :) . That goes for criminal stuff , most copyright infringement stuff ends up in civil court .I can't help thinkin of BG when I see your name  :)

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sell copywrited items neverrrrrrrrr... like my cutter ,my vehicles, my home and what everelse i do got and i want to keep

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Hey Tory ,

Like the guy I knew & everybody in jail.. they were NOT going to get caught  :) . That goes for criminal stuff , most copyright infringement stuff ends up in civil court .I can't help thinkin of BG when I see your name  :)

Lol Rodger well at least that brings a smile, if just for a moment! And yes I'm sure a lot of it is ignorance either not knowing the law or fig they won't be caught??

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Profit vs. risk.

Unless you are making big, big bucks, as mentioned above, more than likely, they'll just confiscate your product on hand.  I have never, ever been to a flea market that didn't have someone selling all the same stuff (ford, honda, fox, calvin, etc).

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I try to be realistic ( try being the key word  :D ) I would make whatever I want for myself or even to give a buddy . After that I would not sell stuff that would cause me grief . I think it is a harmless "crime" at the level small people are doing it , but it adds up . I remember Richard Childress suing & getting a million $ award from a big company selling his stuff ( Dale Earnhardt # 3 etc )  , but I bet that company still made money overall .

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You know, I would love to sell (my ORIGINAL designs) at this Flee Market...however, I can't because of them being their for so many years.  So, it has ran across my mind several times to say something, to report them.  However, I am not a squealer, so I can't.  I guess I will continue to have patience and let them dig their own hole.  Someday, they will get caught.  Maybe one of these weekends, I will go in there and find the booth empty, and then a few weeks latter, go to a government auction to purchase their equipment for $100.00 at auction.  lol  Now, I don't wish this on anybody, however, don't do that stuff if it is illegal.  Some of us are trying to make a honest living. 

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Why not do like the scalpers do and sell a pen for $XX.XX amount of dollars and with the pen purchase you get a free sticker of your choice. You can't get arrested for giving away something that is copywrited. (this is just a joke btw)  :)

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according to what they are writing on the dvds now,   It is a copyright violation with or without financial  gain. So, this probably would not be any different,  If you don't own it, and make it, and don't have permission to reproduce it and redistribute it.  it is a copyright violation.

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Guest round2racing

A few years ago at Michigan International Speedway, there were dealers there selling decals of all the car numbers.

Now, here is Nascar going on right across the street, see the vendors, and nobody said a word.  They were there for three days selling them.

They had numbers and driver signatures, racing team names, you name it.  They weren't Nascar licensed, otherwise they would have been set up INSIDE the track where the licensed vendors are.

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okay - I've asked before but never got the answer, and I doubt I'll get it now, either.

SAY you wish  to get the legal right to make and sell a particular graphic.  I'll use the Calvin sticker as an example - not the one where he's defacing another brand..but one of the cuter ones where he's just grimacing or something.  Say you go directly to Bill Watterson, or perhaps his publisher, Andrews McMeel (?), and ask for permission (fat chance!) or offer to pay royalties..  How MUCH would it cost?  I know - Calvin is a pretty strong name, and if ya go read something about Mr. Watterson, chances are great that he'd shut ya down.. But it is an example.  WHAT do royalties cost for  a licensed sellable item of a great selling product?  Would it be in the hundreds? thousands?  tens of thousands?  WHat do royalties cost?  that is IF you have the "right stuff" to be able to do it??

?

inquiring minds want to know :)

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