Are we allowed to create & sell Michael Jackson items(as long as they only his name on the item)?

No.

Also:

http://forums.cafepress.com/ev...4104/m/441106613/p/1

http://forums.cafepress.com/ev...=893106813#893106813

http://www.cafepress.com/cp/in...x.aspx?page=cup.aspx

Ok.......then is this person, for example, allowed to sell them?
Who are they even?


[EDIT - link removed by mod]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Blipfish,

Thanks for the so called help

artNimages,

I removed the link in your post as per guidelines. You replied while I was composing this response. We don't do anything remotely resembling "pointing fingers" - even if it's just in asking because we don't want to imply (such as in a discussion like this) someone may or may not be doing something wrong. It's not our place and not what the forums are for so we stay pretty clear of that line here.

In answer to your broader question:

Other shopkeepers aren't privileged, necessarily, to private licensing agreements, permissions, etc. That's usually legally between the rights-holder and, in this case, the artist and Cafepress (as they do the printing and make a profit too).

We can only speculate and that rarely is enough to go on.

If they have permission then that's between them and the other parties. We all use Cafepress but we don't all share in gaining licensing all the time - independent parties can do that on their own, too.

Sometimes, it's a person breaking the rules. Sometimes it's a person taking a calculated chance or blindly running a risk they're not aware of. It's never sufficient to draw legal conclusions though for your own use. That's terribly risky. That's why you'd need to talk to an attorney if you wanted to get involved in using the likeness of others in your retail products... it can be a very involved and complicated field if you do wish to proceed.

If you have concerns about images you see being used that may be in violation of TOS - feel free to email CUP@Cafepress.com and let them know you'd like them to review a store for possible infringement. Nobody can police the community better than the community itself. If they're doing nothing against Terms of Service - Cafepress will make that call but it will still be between CP and that shopkeeper. It doesn't take away nor pave the way for our usage of such an image.

artNimages, it really is help. If it keeps you out of legal hot water, then that's help isn't it?

There was a beautifully worded post stickied in this CUP forum explaining why you might see something that you consider to be infringing on the sit, but apparently it got caught up in the autoprune last night.

Short version is:
If you see an infringing design, it may....
1) be selling though an agreement giving that person the rights to use the image. They don't have to prove to the public they have the rights, just to CP.
2) Their use may fall under something that allows it to be used in that manner under law as CP sees it.
3) It may actually be infringing. CP can't catch everything, though they appear to have some filters in place to autocatch things. If you think it's infringing, send a link to it to cup@cafepress.com