# How Much Do I Charge For Use Of A One-Liner By A T-Shirt Company?



## nitro88 (May 29, 2010)

I have scoured the net today and cannot find these answers. I have a list of viable one-liners and a list of T-Shirt mfgr's. I want to pitch my one-liners to these companies to license. 

For example, let's say they choose to use one..."Don't Worry Be Happy" as an example. 

1) Do I charge them a flat fee OR by the number of units they're going to produce--what's the norm?

2) Also, depending on the answer to #1, how much do I charge?

3) Would this be the same protocol for use with stickers, magnets, glasses, etc?


Thank you very much for your help!

Kurt Kirton
Nashville, TN
[email protected]
5/29/10


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## kimura-mma (Jul 26, 2008)

Hey Kurt, welcome to the forums.

The first thing you have to do is go and get all of these one-liners trademarked for use on t-shirts, otherwise companies can use them without paying you anything. You need to own something as intellectual property before you can license it out.

The tricky part of all this is that one-liners are somewhat difficult to trademark for use on t-shirts unless it is a brand name or a continuous part of the company's branding or marketing.

It would be different if you were trying to sell a design, as opposed to just the one-liner. The design, once you create it, would be yours by copyright laws. So you can sell or license it. However, the one-liner used in the design would not fall under the copyright, only the actual design. So you wouldn't be able to prevent someone from using the one-liner as part of a different design.

It may be a good idea to research intellectual property and learn some more about it, or even to contact an IP attorney and get some professional advice and direction.

But to answer your questions:
1. Typically, a licensing agreement has both a yearly flat fee plus a royalty percentage based on sales.
2. You have to establish a value on your IP. Without any sales history, it's hard to do that. Figure out what you want to be paid and let the licensee negotiate in return.
3. Yes, it's the same concept for all types of merchandise. As long as you hold a federal registration of the mark for use on all these products, you can license it out. Write up each licensing agreement so it includes what the licensee is allowed to produce with the mark.

Hope this helps and good luck!


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## dptk (Aug 14, 2009)

Best of luck to you, but I put the odds at about 99% against finding any t-shirt company to pay you simply for one-liner ideas, doesn't sound like you actually own any IP


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## dmfelder (Oct 25, 2008)

We have sold one liner shirts at GAFY .com for many years now, and I kind of agree with the folks above...there's really no easy way to do it. It's not worth too much money because just about anyone can copy the one-liner and/or slightly modify a design. We originally offered a royalty program, but that didn't generate too much money.

My recommedation would be to find a print on demand shirt fulfillment services company who uses direct to garment printing. This will enable you to sell as shirts are ordered without inventory...and you'll also control your own cash flow. In other words, just open up your own shirt and have someone else print for you.

Cheers.


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## nitro88 (May 29, 2010)

*Thank you!*

Thanks to all three of you. This is all new to me, so much appreciated. Very helpful info. --Kurt


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