Frequently, it needs to be determined in a court of law. Note that what constitutes infringement is not black and white there can be вЂњgray areas.вЂќ That is, it can be subject to interpretation. And there are further remedies, like seizure, destruction and penalties. If your work is infringed, you have the right to recover for damages suffered as a result of their using your work. A violation of the exclusive rights attached to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner. For our discussion today, weвЂ™ll stick with copyright and trademark violations.Д¬opyright infringement occurs when a copyrighted work is reproduced, distributed, performed, publicly displayed, or made into a derivative work without the permission of the copyright owner. There are several types of IP rights, such as copyrights, trademarks, patents, industrial designs, and trade secrets. Intellectual property (IP)В infringementВ refers to any violation or breach of an IP right. What is infringement?ДЄnВ infringementВ is a violation, a breach, or an unauthorized act. If this is a concern, you can get extra protection by registering your trademark. Equally, youвЂ™d need to prove that someone elseвЂ™s use of it harms your business. To prove somethingвЂ™s your trademark, youвЂ™d need to prove that youвЂ™ve been using it and customers identify it with you. So they donвЂ™t confuse your customers into thinking theyвЂ™re buying from you. These protections are meant to prevent someone else from passing themselves off as you or your brand. For instance, if people recognize your work from your trademark, you donвЂ™t have to register it for it to apply. And as with copyrights, in common law even if you donвЂ™t register it you can still have some protection. What is a trademark?ДЄ trademark can be a name, a word, a phrase, a slogan, or a design thatвЂ™s associated with your company. Can they reproduce it? Or do you retain that exclusive right? ItвЂ™s entirely up to you. That is, whether they can sell what they make with it. For example, you can stipulate whether itвЂ™s strictly for personal use, or commercial. And further, you control how they use it. You have the exclusive right to use it unless or until you give other people permission to use it. Boom: you own the copyright to that image. LetвЂ™s say you take a photograph of a lake. In other words, you donвЂ™t have to apply for it. And it is an automatic international right. вЂњLiteraryвЂќ here includes dances, photographs, tutorials. So, first: what is a copyright? A copyright covers recorded, artistic, or literary work.

Massive demand and no supply equals lots of money вЂ“ but was it okay? Should I have jumped on the trend? Printed masses of copies of my Baby Yoda and stuck them on mugs and then retired to my yacht in the Caribbean? What is a copyright?ДЇor our discussion here, letвЂ™s begin with some terms.

And some folks who made Baby Yoda things to sell on Etsy made a killing that holiday season. Everybody wanted a Baby Yoda! And it sure seemed that Disney had dropped the ball! Christmas was around the corner and for these millions of fans Disney had nothing?* So, yeah we all had a go. I remember when The Mandalorian came out back in November 2019 and The Child first appeared. Like many of you, IвЂ™m a maker and I do understand the temptation! For example, can you sell Disney items on Etsy? Now, I am not a lawyer, so IвЂ™m not qualified to give legal advice. So today, letвЂ™s talk about selling fan art. What to sell on Etsy is a topic we talk about a lot here. Is it legal to sell fan art on Etsy? Well, thereвЂ™s lots of conflicting advice out there.

Gone home fan art