thoughts on 'unofficial' merchandise (Ministry and others)

I mean, are they just testing the waters and hoping they survive as long as possible before someone comes after them with a cease and desist order? Or is there some loophole that permits this 3rd party use of presumably copyrighted images? Curious, am I…

I’m not a lawyer, but I believe all copyrights have to be renewed every 8-10 years, so it’s quite possible older images such as the “With Sympathy” cover art are no longer protected. It could also be in the “public domain” after 30+ years.

I also noticed that the recent Brian Shanley art show didn’t contain any of the actual cover art or photos used for “With Sympathy”, so those images may have been bought outright by or sold to Arista. Arista may not have any enforcement rights at this point, or (more likely) they simply don’t care.

[reply]You do know that most often those dudes work for the band and are selling reject t shirts that have something wrong with them and didn’t make the cut for the merch booth, don’cha’? Granted not always but more often than not, yeah. “ooh you fucked up a comma there… Oh the image is slightly off…” etc etc.
not really bootleggers more like “outlet malleggers”

I’ve never heard that, and judging by the crap prints I see, I’m a little skeptical of this theory.[/reply]

Yeah, that seems unlikely to me. Most of those bootleg shirts are awful on a level way beyond a simple misprint.

[reply][reply]You do know that most often those dudes work for the band and are selling reject t shirts that have something wrong with them and didn’t make the cut for the merch booth, don’cha’? Granted not always but more often than not, yeah. “ooh you fucked up a comma there… Oh the image is slightly off…” etc etc.
not really bootleggers more like “outlet malleggers”

I’ve never heard that, and judging by the crap prints I see, I’m a little skeptical of this theory.[/reply]

Yeah, that seems unlikely to me. Most of those bootleg shirts are awful on a level way beyond a simple misprint.[/reply]

That’s just Grumpy looking for a conspiracy.
I ain’t buying it either.

And the designs I see in the parking lot are never the same as the official designs in the merch booths. Some are really good, though.

I see more “good” shirts than bad shirts. Ive seen some really bad shirts but more good than bad. The tags on the “boot” shirts are usually cut down the middle. Why would a bootlegger go through that much effort to cut the shirt tags in 2? Its way to identify that those are reject shirts not to be sold at the merch table.

I see more “good” shirts than bad shirts. Ive seen some really bad shirts but more good than bad. The tags on the “boot” shirts are usually cut down the middle. Why would a bootlegger go through that much effort to cut the shirt tags in 2? Its way to identify that those are reject shirts not to be sold at the merch table.

Well, that actually makes sense (especially if the designs are the same as the “official” designs).

I honestly could see the merit in your theory about rejects being sold. I only take issue with (and I suspect the others would position themselves accordingly) claiming that is the norm or majority of parking lot bootleggers.

I sent Bruce Corbitt (vox - Rigor Mortis) one of the Rigor Mortis bootleg shirts I bought in Mexico. He was like, “These are really good! This guy should make shirts for us, haha!”

Only loosely related, but my favorite bootlegged images are those that have no relation to the “official” poster / t-shirt / whatever but are loose interpretations of general themes.

[url https://www.polishposter.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=USA]Polish movie posters for Hollywood movies are notorious for this. Actually I kind of like the fact that they put some thought into making some abstract design capturing the ‘feel’ of the movies, instead of just using a still image from the film or an ensemble cast image as the poster.

The “Saving Private Ryan”, “Exorcist”, and “Rosemary’s Baby” posters on that page are good examples, and the poster for “Pulp Fiction” looks like a mash-up between Roy Lichtenstein and Picasso…

Only loosely related, but my favorite bootlegged images are those that have no relation to the “official” poster / t-shirt / whatever but are loose interpretations of general themes.

I used to have an amazing SLAYER bootleg shirt that was some random Kraken/Black Lagoon type demon crawling out of a sea of blood (I suppose) and wielding some crazy ass trident with an upsidedown pentagram on it (of course).

I used to have an amazing SLAYER bootleg shirt that was some random Kraken/Black Lagoon type demon crawling out of a sea of blood (I suppose) and wielding some crazy ass trident with an upsidedown pentagram on it (of course).

Sounds awesome indeed, I hope you and the kraken are commemorating the new Slayer album’s release today (though the kraken could probably write better lyrics than some of the new stuff I’ve read so far.)

A friend had a Nirvana bootleg shirt once that was terrific, Dave Grohl’s mug took up nearly the entirety of the screen and Kurt Cobain’s head was about a tenth the size.

The tags are cut because they bought rejected blank shirts from Hanes or Fruit Of The Loom or wherever. The sleeves aren’t right or whatever and they didn’t make QC.

Like when you buy a promo CD and the UPC has a punch through it.

Only loosely related, but my favorite bootlegged images are those that have no relation to the “official” poster / t-shirt / whatever but are loose interpretations of general themes.

[url https://www.polishposter.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=USA]Polish movie posters for Hollywood movies are notorious for this. Actually I kind of like the fact that they put some thought into making some abstract design capturing the ‘feel’ of the movies, instead of just using a still image from the film or an ensemble cast image as the poster.

The “Saving Private Ryan”, “Exorcist”, and “Rosemary’s Baby” posters on that page are good examples, and the poster for “Pulp Fiction” looks like a mash-up between Roy Lichtenstein and Picasso…

That private Ryan poster is bad ass

The tags are cut because they bought rejected blank shirts from Hanes or Fruit Of The Loom or wherever. The sleeves aren’t right or whatever and they didn’t make QC.

Like when you buy a promo CD and the UPC has a punch through it.

I could be wrong. You could be right.

Only loosely related, but my favorite bootlegged images are those that have no relation to the “official” poster / t-shirt / whatever but are loose interpretations of general themes.

[url https://www.polishposter.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=USA]Polish movie posters for Hollywood movies are notorious for this. Actually I kind of like the fact that they put some thought into making some abstract design capturing the ‘feel’ of the movies, instead of just using a still image from the film or an ensemble cast image as the poster.

The “Saving Private Ryan”, “Exorcist”, and “Rosemary’s Baby” posters on that page are good examples, and the poster for “Pulp Fiction” looks like a mash-up between Roy Lichtenstein and Picasso…

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

“WIDEODROM” looks like the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Polish, indeed.

Mt brother has this Terminator one, it’s pretty cool.

http://www.polishposter.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=1110&Category_Code=

I’m assuming the title means something like “Electronic Murderer” in Polish.

Gunnar since you were sporting your visible Gamera shirt the other day, you’d probably enjoy [url www.polishposter.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=3070] Polish poster as a companion.

Actually he looks kinda benign and calm floating thru space there.

Gunnar since you were sporting your visible Gamera shirt the other day, you’d probably enjoy [url www.polishposter.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=3070] Polish poster as a companion.

Actually he looks kinda benign and calm floating thru space there.

HAHAHAHA!!! Thanks for thinking of me . . . . but that looks like the box of some crappy Buddy L model kit or something.

The tags are cut because they bought rejected blank shirts from Hanes or Fruit Of The Loom or wherever. The sleeves aren’t right or whatever and they didn’t make QC.

Like when you buy a promo CD and the UPC has a punch through it.

Well, not exactly like that: a promo CD with the UPC punched out is identical in quality to a retail CD, isn’t it?

So, there is a web shop I frequent from time to time that is selling [url http://nightchannels.com/ministry-with-sympathy-shirt/]a t-shirt with the “With Sympathy” cover design on it (available in olive drab!)

Their stock in trade seems to be unofficial replicas of (admittedly mostly groovy) underground and cult favorites, occasionally re-prints of previously available shirts.

This is all fine and good, and in fact I’m glad a lot of these are available, but - could someone with a little more legal knowledge than myself explain how they get away with this? This is hardly a clandestine operation, and not the only one of its kind either (there are quite a few similar shops on Etsy offering merch with picture-perfect replicas of cult movie posters / book covers / album covers etc.)

I mean, are they just testing the waters and hoping they survive as long as possible before someone comes after them with a cease and desist order? Or is there some loophole that permits this 3rd party use of presumably copyrighted images? Curious, am I…

they’re all beautiful…got my eye on the RED one [angelic]