My fiance and I are researching information on starting a home based glass etching / engraving business... I am a bit confused on copyright laws as we will not be mass producing any one item.. Most of our items will be custom made with a saying, symbol, and / or personalization.. I know we are safe with engraving Happy Birthday John on a glass or even etching a flower or other standard symbol but what about licensed logos like disney characters, NFL logos etc...... For example If someone requests the FSU logo to be etched onto a wine glass or Tinkerbell on a candy jar am I allowed to do this? Would I have to buy licensing rights just for the few products that may be requested? Please help answer this question or guide me to a website that will answer it - Thanks !!!
These products are licensed and in many cases the owners are fanatical about protecting their property. Licensing can cost thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars. I worked for a company once which wanted to reproduce in a brochure a still shot from a major motion picture which had used one of the company products. The studio was willing to grant a one time use license for $250,000.
Legally, yes, you ll need permission to use even one copyrighted image one time.I m not saying that everyone who makes custom items for sale does this. I m just saying that legally, that s what you re supposed to do.
