I collect t-shirts, and I have several that have *shrunk over time. Unfortunately, a couple of the ones that have shrunk are irreplaceable because the establishments where I purchased them have ceased to exist. These were shirts that had the logos emblazoned upon them.
So. . .
If I my shrunken mediums and axed some t-shirt designer to reprint some from those designs, would I be guilty of copyright infringements?
*Actually, so have I, but not at a pace that has matched my shirts.
Its probably only illegal if you try to sell them as the real thing. Even if it is illegal I don’t think there is any chance you would get in trouble as long as you don’t start mass producing them.
Well, if you axed a t-shirt designer, I suspect that you would be guilty of more than just copyright infringement. I’d say aggravated assult at the least.
I doubt phrases short enough to fit on a tee-shirt could be copyrighted. If the phrase is trademarked (like The Straight Dope[sup]®[/sup]), that’s a different story.
There was a little dispute over the title of David Brinkley’s book Everyone Is Entitled to My Opinion. It turns out that it was lifted from a bumper sticker, not by Brinkley himself but by the person who suggested the title to him. IIRC, the bumper-sticker maker had no case.
You might try just making pillows out of the Ts. Soft, cuddly, and it doesn’t matter if they shrink. I’ve seen some quilts made from Tshirt panels, but that strikes me as an awful lot of work, as Ts are made from stretchy fabric that is a pain to piece.