[Dragaera] Attribution on swag items... things to consider

[Jerry Friedman]

I'm inclined to agree that copyright notices on T shirts
are excessive, but on the subject of incorporating it into
the design, a copyright notice along a blade might send a
message.  Especially on that often-stolen quotation about
the knife and the wizard.

Jerry Friedman

--- Elizabeth Dalton <dalton_0907 at gaeacoop.org> wrote:

> I'm of a somewhat mixed opinion on this myself. I want to do right by 
> Steve, and I want to keep the fans happy (without which, of course, the 
> items won't sell and he still gets nothing). I'm hoping with some 
> thought, we can do both.
> 
> I have, in fact, seen many shirts with copyright and trademark notices, 
> including a series of shirts with Zelazny quotes from Ambercon a number 
> of years back. One reason I've been so adamant about including a 
> copyright or trademark notice on these shirts and other items is because
> 
> there are items being sold out there with no attribution, which Steve 
> gets nothing from. Some just use words like "klava" and "Adrilankha," or
> 
> use the word "Jhereg" in the item title, but one has the full "subtle 
> wizard" quote with no attribution (and an absurd illustration of an 
> entirely unsubtle wizard with no knife in sight). I think it's important
> 
> to differentiate the items Steve does get compensated for from the 
> knock-offs, and it can also be important from a legal sense to protect 
> his ideas, if he ends up having to ask someone to remove items from sale
> 
> that are using his words or characters without any credit or 
> compensation whatsoever. If you don't protect trademarks, you lose them.
> 
> That being said, I can appreciate the point about the notices being 
> distracting. Let's continue to brainstorm.
> 
> CafePress doesn't offer printing on the back of dark shirts, and charges
> 
> extra for printing on the back of other shirts. They don't offer 
> printing on the sleeves at all, but if they ever do, I'm sure there will
> 
> be a surcharge.
> 
> I could certainly make the text of the copyright notices smaller. I'd 
> like them to be legible, but they needn't be legible from much distance,
> 
> I suppose. Most of them are at 24pt type now on shirts. I could try 
> reducing to 18pt or 16pt. I'd like to avoid having to order several test
> 
> items to check for legibility, as that costs me money out of pocket (and
> 
> I don't get paid for any of this, remember). Would someone care to offer
> 
> a comment about legibility and size based on shirts so far?
> 
> On the other hand, let's suppose someone isn't currently a Brust fan, 
> and sees a really cool quote on a shirt or button. Wouldn't it be nice 
> for them to know where to get more of the same? Steve doesn't get a ton 
> of money from these items, due to the nature of print-on-demand swag. A 
> lot of the benefit to him is likely the power they have to help spread 
> the word about his books.
> 
> What about printing the notices in smaller text, sideways on the edge of
> 
> the design? Would that be more or less distracting? (I think it might 
> depend on the design...)
> 
> Another thought is that for actual quotes, it may be more important and 
> less distracting to include the attribution visibly than for "gag" items
> 
> like "got klava?" and "What would Sethra do?" Again, if you don't 
> protect trademarks, you lose them, so I think some kind of notice is 
> appropriate, but it could be much smaller and integrated visually into 
> the design more.
> 
> Naturally, if Steve himself wants to weigh in here, I'll do whatever he 
> prefers, but in the absence of his input, let's see if we can come up 
> with a good solution (or set of solutions) to meet everyone's needs.
> 
> --
> Elizabeth Dalton
> Support Steven Brust!
> Adrilankha Gift Shop: http://www.cafepress.com/dragaera
> Adrilankha Book Shop: http://astore.amazon.com/dragaera-20
> Donations: http://dreamcafe.com/donate.html
> 
> Alain Feeny wrote:
> > I'd have to agree with this.
> > 
> > Perhaps a compromise would be to separate the credit from the quote.  
> 
> > putting the credit on the back below the collar line, or perhaps on  
> > the right shoulder, or similar.
> > 
> > Any thoughts?
> > 
> > AMF
> > 
> > On 4-Jan-08, at 10:50 AM, Scott Schultz wrote:
> > 
> > 
> >>>General query: do folks prefer quotes with an
> >>>illustration, or without?
> >>
> >>Depends on the visual effect of the text, and the proposed art.
> >>
> >>On a similar note, while I'm all in favor of giving Steve all due  
> >>credit, it
> >>strikes me as a bit odd to see "(c) Steven Brust" at the end of  
> >>every quote.
> >>Either you know the source or you don't. A copyright statement isn't  
> >>going
> >>to offer any kind of context to people who don't know it. Maybe I've  
> >>just
> >>never seen a shirt that quoted a book before. I can't recall ever  
> >>seeing a
> >>T-shirt that put a copyright or trademark or whatever mark on their
> >>graphics. For lack of a better way to describe it, I find it non- 
> >>immersive
> >>when the gag comes with a legal disclaimer. Maybe that's just me.
> >>
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