# Legal info:Do I need licence to print alice in wonderland image



## punkoriginal (Feb 5, 2007)

Hi

I just want to know if I need special permission or even a license to print an image of Alice in wonderland.

The design does not say alice in wonderland or any wording that is trademarked. It just a pic of alice sitting on a chair.

I know companies like hookups skateboards has an t-shirt that has alice on it.

Any info will help.
Thanks
Rainier


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## PositiveDave (Dec 1, 2008)

As far as I know Charles Dodgson has been dead for 110 years and is probably out of copyright but make sure the images that you wish to use are not more recent and still copyrighted.


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## punkoriginal (Feb 5, 2007)

hi...I was thinking the same.

Also the design was custom made for me by an designer so no image was directly taken for print.
I submitted my design to printer and they asked me if I had a license to print the images.

If they are full of sh&t I'm thinking of just saying that its a french maid and not alice. Maybe that can help

Thanks


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## PositiveDave (Dec 1, 2008)

Find out who did the design that you're copying and see when he died, if it's 'in the public domain' so to speak then there's no problem.


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

For this particular design, this is a legal question that should be posed to a copyright lawyer. 

Any artist can create an image of a licensed character, but if they do not have permission/a license to do so, it is not legal to do so. It's copyright infringement. 

One way to get licensed images without actually buying a license is to buy transfers from a company that has purchased the license, and will re-sell images to you. Places like Proworld and Artbrands. 

A little more information to consider when you speak to a lawyer would be that Alice in Wonderland is most likely copywrited by Disney.

I am not a lawyer, so I cannot answer on this with any certainty whatsoever, and neither can anyone else unless they are a trained professional. 

But since this is a legal question, it's best that we steer clear of it. There are plenty of topics that cover copyright and trademark and using famous images in parody that you can find by using the search box at the top of the forum.

The usual recommendations apply:

- Talk to lawyer if you want to do something that you think might be illegal or have a legal question. They will be the ones that can help you and even then, you could still get sued. But at least then, if you get sued and they said it was probably "ok", then at least you have someone that can go to court for you.

- Any "ways around it" advice given in a forum could get you sued. Even if 1000 people tell you it's OK, you could still get sued and have to come up with a lawyer and defend your right to do it.

- Why do you see other people doing it? Here's a good answer that was posted here before:



> Originally Posted by *Solmu *_The usual story:
> 
> Some do whatever they want and wait for the cease and desist letter (and hope the company doesn't skip over it)
> Some can afford lawyers to defend on the basis of parody, etc.
> ...


For further reading, check out:


U.S. Copyright Office

Trademarks

copyright related topics at T-Shirt Forums

trademark related topics at T-Shirt Forums


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