This and that

[emmuzka]

Oh, lo! My relative opened a T-shirt shop! The page is still in the works, so it will be (even) better. You know any nice, copyright-free slogans?

ETA: The link works! Thanks, topeju!

Spent the Saturday with the family of the relative mentioned. The nicest way to spend a day with a family with small kids? The key is no planned program and no logistics whatsoever.

The wannabe non-fiction writer never got back to me. I wonder why. Was my critique too harsh? ;)

Aren’t Justin and JC and Chris all supposed to have an album out this year? Soo… Where are they? Why haven’t I heard about them?

You know T.a.t.u.’s new single “Gomenasai”? It’s not the hit of the year or anything, but it’s catchy as hell. The curious thing is that a sample of the song is used straight as a chorus for a rap song “Happy Birthday”, by.. forgot who. But anyway, it’s used. I don’t know if they are credited in the CD, but they could have credited them with “featuring T.a.t.u.” in the video. Only they didn’t.

I’m coming to Turku for the easter. On the program there is mainly cleaning up the flat of The Old Relative(my future home, I dare to say!), getting rid of my tv and visiting my cat (and The Old Relative). If someone wants to meet me or offer me lamb or pasha or something, I’m all up for it.

Also, after the easter comes the first meet of the employment course where I am. I wonder if the Evil Contestant will appear?

The applying to Finland’s Big Brother is open right now. Hmm… Should I? It’s not like they would choose me, since I’m too fat for tv. Or maybe I could be the token fat one.

Comments

[teroyks.livejournal.com]

You know any nice, copyright-free slogans?

I don't think slogans satisfy the restrictions that would allow them to fall under anyone's copyright. So, unless they infringe on a trademark, they should be free for the taking.

(Of course, before betting ones business on this, one probably should consult a lawyer instead of just trusting my thought on the matter.)

[emmuzka.livejournal.com]

At least Mentalwear's T-shirts are copyrighted so that not only you can't use their texts as pictures (with the same font and all), but you can't use their slogans att all. For example, putting the slogan "Äiti on vähän väsynyt" in your catalog would make your phone ring pretty quickly. But can you copyright simple words like Pakkopaita?

[arye-sarin.livejournal.com]

but you can't use their slogans att all.

I wonder if it's legal to copyright something like that? That kind of slogans are easy to invent all by yourself and someone might very well print a shirt or make a button with a text valitettavasti en voi auttaa without copying it from anywhere. How can Mentalwear possibly claim that an ordinary sentence like that was copied from their shirt?
Didn't someone from our circles try to find out about copyright laws when we were manufacturing buttons to Finncon several years back? I remember it was allowed to print and sell for example quotes from the movies. Or am I just dreaming...?

[arye-sarin.livejournal.com]

I got so interested that I read copyright law. Tha law text itself was so difficult to understand and had tons of text, so I found a more understandable version from a page where public libraries explain the copyright law. Some relevants points:

Tekijänoikeudellisen suojan kohteet
Tekijänoikeussäädökset suojaavat lain ilmaisun mukaan "kirjallisia ja taiteellisia teoksia". Tätä on meillä tulkittu niin laajasti, että sen piiriin kuuluvat asiallisesti ottaen kaikenlaiset teokset. Kirjallisina teoksina pidetään myös mm. karttoja, graafisia teoksia sekä tietokoneohjelmia. Jaottelulla "kirjallisiin" ja "taiteellisiin" teoksiin ei ole lain soveltamisen kannalta mitään eroa. Suojan kohteena olevia teoksia on laissa kuitenkin eritelty myös termeillä "kirjalliset teokset", "sävellysteokset", "elokuvateokset", "konelukuisessa muodossa olevat tietokoneohjelmat", "tietokannat" ja "taideteokset". Osa lain määräyksistä koskee vain jotain tai joitakin näistä ryhmistä, osaa sovelletaan kaikkiin.

Myöskään teoksen laajuudelle tai kestolle ei ole asetettu rajoituksia. Suojaa voi saada yhtä hyvin parin sekunnin pituinen sävellys tai muutamasta sanasta koostuva runo kuin parituntinen ooppera tai tuhatsivuinen romaani. Hyvin suppeissa teoksissa voi omaperäisyyden ja itsenäisyyden osoittaminen olla vaikeaa.

Muutamasta sanasta koostuva runo? Hmmm...tähän voisi mennä sloganit. Mutta luulen että tuo viimeinen lause ratkaisee sen, että oikeudessa on vaikea osoittaa onko esim. joku paitateksti kenen yksityisoikeus vai ei.

[teroyks.livejournal.com]

Claiming copyright and actually having it are two very different things. For example, Edita is claiming copyright on Finnish law text, and some music publishers have tried to get compensation from the Finnish national anthem based on copyright... I suspect that, as arye_sarin also noted, proving a slogan is your original work of art would be quite difficult.