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copyrighting letters
it's my understanding that our actual letters (anyone's) are not able to be copyrighted. our symbols (such as crest or mascot) can be copyrighted. but, having just the greek letters on a shirt can mean anything. it can be the name of a sorority, religious cult or anything else if it is JUST the letters. If the letters themselves could be copyrighted, it would mean that anyone can put any letters from the alphabet on something and say that it is copyrighted.
now, if the shirt had letters AND a crest or other official symbol, that would propbably be a different story. that's part of the reason why our HQ can't go after every mom and pop store that sells stuff with our letters on it. for example, i could make all the stuff i wanted with the letters NFL on it. however, if i start making stuff with footballs, using the official font or logos, then i can get in trouble for copyright infringement. If i make a pink letter shirt with NFL and white bunnies, it don't mean squat and the NFL cannot come after me. Since what our letters actually mean is secret, of course it will never be printed on a shirt. And since spelling out Alpha is not a meaningful word, it's just the pronunciation of the greek letter, it is not copryightable either.
i still think it is crap that she is wearing that shirt and leading people to believe that is a member. but, it's not illegal and I'm not sure that HQ can force or require MTV to blur them out. Other logos/brands can legally require they be blurred b/c they are copyrighted or trademarked. The non-greek letter orgs (FarmHouse, Acacia, etc) may be able to do that. Not sure though. Anyways.....just my 2 cents on the copyright issue.
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