licensing: University and College names?
 

Hey everyone... one of my collegiate members just told me that a T-shirt company told her that there is a new licensing requirement that prevents T-shirt companies from using college and university names on T-shirts. Do any of you know anything about this? If so, do you know where I can find the info? I'm just wondering if there is a way around it; for example, using Georgia State rather than Georiga State University. Thanks!

Actually, it's been going on for over 20 years. Some schools and organizations are just now signing up but it's not a new concept. Here's their web site:

http://www.clc.com/Home.aspx

You may notice that the founder, Bill Battle, is the new Atheltics Director at Alabama.

I was wondering about this:
I was trying to order T-shirts for another organization and the T-shirt company we went through the last time says that they aren't able to use our University's name on our shirts that we order. So, I asked that they simply put "at Nevada". They were able to do that.

Thank you.

So if they are able to do something like "At Nevada" should they be able to use "at Georgia State" since that's technically not the school's full name? Is there somewhere that we can see exactly what terms or phrases are trademarked versus what isn't?

BTW, I think this is really dumb. I GET it, but I still think it's dumb.

It will all depend on how the vendor views its responsibility to the licensing agreement. I am certain that if you had licensed a name YOU would not like it if I circumvented the law to avoid paying your %. I'm glad your vendor abides by the law.

I can see that, Titchou:

After what happened (funding was approved from the school to use this SPECIFIC vendor, before we knew about the licensing issues) we're switching our business to a different licensed vendor. The other option is to leave the University name off and go just on your name of whatever organization you are getting shirts printed for. For orgs like this.... having shirts that say "XYZ Special Organization at XYZ University" isn't 'do-or-die'. :D

I can't remember ordering T-shirts with university info for any of the organizations I was involved with. Any time we ordered shirts, it was for folks who 1) went to the university or 2) were in the immediate community, so it was kind of redundant. It was always "Alpha Beta Gamma, Zeta Gamma Chapter" or "Student Council Group, [group tagline]" -- never a need to mention the university.

I see Greek Week tee-shirts now and then that have the school name on them.

It's business. Very big business. For some schools, we're talking about huge amounts of money on products that sell just because they have the school's name or mascot on them.

If what you're looking at is something like a Greek Week tee-shirt, what you need to check is exactly what Georgia State has copyrighted or trademarked, and what the restrictions are. (You can start here.) Often, schools are primarily concerned about logos (institutional and athletic), word marks and uses of a name in a way that suggest the product is "official," such as use of the name with the school colors or something that resembles a mascot. They may not be as concerned about simple use of the name in something like a Greek Week tee-shirt that is not being resold for profit.

Also, many times schools will give blanket permission to organizations related to the school to use names and the like within certain parameters, much like GLO chapters can use GLO logos that a vendor would have to pay a licensing fee for. It's definitely worth inquiring about. (The page I linked says who at GSU to contact.)

They had a social shirt with a fraternity recently and the vendor would not let them put Georgia State University on it, so now they are upset that they can't put it on the bid day shirts. That social shirt only says "Georgia" on it now....which implies a different school all together. I told them to check to see if Georgia State versus Georgia State University was okay. Not sure if it will be which is why we were trying to get some info about it to take back to the vendor.

*edit* Thanks for that link! It definitely helps.

You're welcome, and I'm glad. My suggestion would be for you or someone from the chapter to talk with the appropriate people at the school and then take that info, along with the name and number of the appropriate contact person at Georgia State, to the vendor.

Good luck!


Edit: I mentioned above that some schools may have policies allowing student groups to use names and logos without a license. FWIW, I found this policy along those lines from Georgia Southern.

Or maybe use a licensed vendor who can direct you. It does cost more due to the licensing fees but well worth it to remain within the law and in the university's good graces.

I would start with the school rather than a vendor. A licensed vendor might be familiar with general rules about selling merchandise but might not be familiar with any specific rules (if any) that give limited permissions to student organizations. Plus, policies concerning student orgs may require the organization to get prior approval of any specific design from the school, so contact with the school may be necessary anyway.

In any event, I think nothing shows a desire to stay in the school's good graces more than going to the appropriate people at the school to learn what the rules and guidelines are.

True. The ones I've used are pretty well versed in what they can and can't do. The chapters are always complaining about the cost. Of course, they also have to deal with our licensing agreements as Delta Gamma is one that has done that as well.