Skip to content

US Customers: No price changes, no unexpected costs. VC will cover all tariff-related expenses on our locally-made gear.

Free Shipping for In-Stock Orders $89+ USA/CANADA

Offer valid on stock and standard pre-order items only.

Team store & bulk items excepted.

Join Us!

Enter your email address to get 10% off your next purchase.

Team Store exceptions apply. By completing this form you are signing up to receive our emails. You may unsubscribe at any time.

  • Custom
    Custom Apparel
    • Sublimated Products
    • Spot Sublimated Products
    • Blank Customizable Products
    • Patched & Embroidered Products
    How to Order
    • Custom Discs
    • Custom Apparel
    • Team Stores
    • Fit Guide
    • Size Charts & Information
    • Issue Reporting Form
    Info for Teams, Leagues, & Partners
    • Customer Experiences
    • FAQ
    • Packages, Sponsorships & Offers
    • Team Stores & Online Player Ordering
    • League & Partner Stores
    • Design Requests
    Customization Options
    • Sublimation
    • Spot Sublimation
    • Screen Printing
    • Transfers
    • Embroidery
  • VC Shop
    • New & Featured
    • SALE
    • Discs
    • In-stock Uniforms
    • Featured Products
      • SALE! Last Chance
      • Windbreaker
      • Revolution Hoodies
      • Shorty Shorts
      • Training Pants
      • Reversibles & Tanks
      • Jerseys
      • Crop Tops
      • Hats & Headwear
      • Wristbands
    • Conversation Starters
      • Color of Ultimate
      • Everyone is Welcome
      • Live Ultimate
      • Kindness
      • Pride
      • Pronouns
      • Respect Mantra
      • SAY GAY
    • VC Design Collection
      • Landscape
      • Lost & Found
      • Murmuration
      • Sunday Morning Bye
      • Throwback
      • Triangle
      • VCU
    • Accessories
      • Hats
      • Headbands & Wristbands
      • Gloves
      • Neckies
    • VC Card Membership
    • Gift Card
  • Fan Shops
    • Events
      • WFDF Events
      • Virtual VC Merch Tent
    • Team Fan Shops
      • 6ixers
      • Boston Siege
      • DC Scandal
      • GOAT
      • Iris
      • Rainbow Brigade
      • Red Circus
      • SuperTeam
    • Partner Leagues
      • Dodgeball Toronto
      • FQU
      • HKFDF
      • Kelowna Ultimate
      • MODS
      • OCUA
      • VUL
    • Friends of VC
      • byCardenas
      • Color of Ultimate
      • NKolakovic
      • One More Year
      • Without Limits
    • WFDF
    • Dodgeball
      • Dodgeball Toronto
      • Dodgeball Canada
    • Quadball
      • US Quadball
      • Quadball Canada
      • Quadball Mystery Sale
  • Sports
    • Ultimate
    • Dodgeball
    • Goaltimate
    • Quadball
    • Disc Golf
    • Curling
    • Cycling
    • Hockey
    • Volleyball
  • About
    • Our Story
    • Blog
    • Customer Experiences
    • Custom Uniforms
    • Sizing
    • Sports We Love
    • VC Card Membership
    • Contact
    • FAQ
    • Donation Requests
  • Events
    • DC Club Championships
    • Dream Cup 2025
    • WMUC 2024
    • Club Nationals 2024
    • WBUCC
    • WUC 2024
    • USAU Masters 2024
    • US Open & YCC
    • WJUC 2024
  • Discs
VC Ultimate
Language
Language
0
  • Home
    • Sublimated Products
    • Custom Discs
      • Sponsorships, Packages & Offers
      • Sublimated Products
      • Spot Sublimated Products
      • Blank Customizable Products
      • Patched & Embroidered Products
      • Start An Order
      • Design Services
      • Custom Discs
      • Custom Apparel
      • FAQ
      • Packages, Sponsorships & Offers
      • Team Stores & Online Player Ordering
      • Design Requests
      • Fit Guide
      • Issue Reporting Form
      • League & Partner Stores
      • Customer Experiences
      • Sublimation
      • Spot Sublimation
      • Screen Printing
      • Embroidery
      • Transfers
  • Uniform Packages
    • New & Featured
    • SALE
    • Discs
      • Mystery
      • Windbreaker
      • Revolution Hoodies
      • Shorty Shorts
      • Training Pants
      • Reversibles & Tanks
      • Jerseys
      • Crop Tops
      • Hats & Headwear
      • Shorts & Pants
      • In-stock Blanks
      • Pride
      • Everyone is Welcome Here
      • Kindness
      • Respect Mantra
      • Say Gay
      • Pronouns
      • Hats
      • Gloves
      • Headbands & Wristbands
      • Neckies
    • VC Designs
    • VC Card Membership
    • Gift Cards
      • Dodgeball Canada
      • Dodgeball Toronto
      • FQU
      • HKFDF
      • Kelowna Ultimate
      • MODS
      • OCUA
      • USAU Live Ultimate
      • VUL
      • WFDF
      • 6ixers
      • Boston Siege
      • Color Of Ultimate
      • DC Scandal
      • GOAT
      • Iris
      • Quadball Canada
      • Red Circus
      • SuperTeam
      • US Quadball
      • byCardenas
      • NKolakovic
      • One More Year
      • Without Limits
    • Our Story
    • Blog
    • Customer Experiences
    • Sizing
    • Sports We Love
    • Contact
    • FAQ
    • Donations & Sponsorships
    • Ultimate
    • Dodgeball
    • Quadball
    • Curling
    • Volleyball
    • DC Club Championships
    • Dream Cup 2025
    • WMUC 2024
    • Club Nationals 2024
    • WBUCC
    • WUC 2024
    • US Open & YCC
    • WJUC 2024
    • USAU Masters
  • Discs
Account
Language
Language
Access Denied
IMPORTANT! If you’re a store owner, please make sure you have Customer accounts enabled in your Store Admin, as you have customer based locks set up with EasyLockdown app. Enable Customer Accounts
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Copyright Infringement: the Dos and Don'ts of Fair Use
Copyright Infringement: the Dos and Don'ts of Fair Use
Design

Copyright Infringement: the Dos and Don'ts of Fair Use

Do's & Don'ts of Copyright Law and Fair Use

Tracie Ching: Five Years as a Design Mastermind Reading Copyright Infringement: the Dos and Don'ts of Fair Use 5 minutes Next World Ultimate and Guts Championships in London
By Adriana WithersMar 24, 2016
Tags
  • Design
Share
Facebook Pinterest Twitter E-mail
Share

In creating apparel for ultimate, we are lucky to work with a talented and creative community. When we first offered sublimation to ultimate teams back in 2001, we launched a new era for jersey design in our sport. Now, over 20 years later, inspired designers continue to submit incredibly creative and artistic works!

There is one catch, however: often, teams’ ideas contain design elements that we can’t include, recreate, or reproduce due to copyright law. It's very easy to see something you like and want it reproduced on your custom apparel, but multiple laws and policies can stand in the way.

Considering Fair Use for your Jersey Design

In its most general sense, Fair Use is "any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and transformative purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work." As teams like to parody other works, keep in mind that the key word here is transformative - it's not enough to just change a colour or rearrange some elements; it must be transformed into a new work of art.

A common myth is that you can copy something as long as you change 30% of it; unfortunately this is false. Courts look at the similarities between the works in context; not at how much was changed.

We know this is a lot to take in! To make it easier for you, we've compiled a list of Dos and Don'ts to help with your design process.

Do's & Don'ts of Copyright Law and Fair Use

Do: 

  • Do send us examples of art and images that you like. Our graphic designers may not be able to copy them exactly, but they can be used as a starting point to help us know what you're looking for. We can then hopefully capture the essence of the works and create something new for you!

Jerseys inspired by professional sport teams' designs are both popular and completely OK!

  • Do reference the material without using copyrighted characters or images, or draw from a wide variety of inspirations to create something new.

Wicked's uniforms inspired by the Broadway play.

  • Do reach out to artists and institutions for permission. Emerging artists especially may be willing to give you written permission for use of a work of art, or a company may appreciate the free publicity from using their logo. A written copyright release is necessary!

Anchor, a Canadian ultimate team, reached out to Saltwreck about using their anchor silhouette in their design and ended up with a sponsor!

  • Do make use of the Public Domain - works whose exclusive intellectual property rights have expired, have been forfeited, or are inapplicable. It may take some research, but one great resource is the National Gallery of Art which offers free downloads of art in the public domain. 
  • Do make use of royalty-free stock and/or vector images from sites such as PublicDomainVectors.org or Pixabay,com.
  • Do reference brand guidelines whenever available. A branding guide contains rules on correct usage of logos, colours, fonts, etc. If you have a sponsor, ask if one’s available. If your team is representing a learning institution, they are often available on their website if you google it (ex. ‘Carleton University brand standards’). Note that all information found in branding guides must be followed; there could be implications for your team if not.
  • When in doubt, always err on the side of caution.

 

Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa is part of Public Domain, and the inspiration for one of our most popular design collections.

Don't:

  • Don't assume that content found on the internet can be freely used or copied. Finding it on Google doesn’t mean you can use it! Examples of copyrighted material include cartoon characters, corporate logos, school mascots, college names (i.e. "University of Michigan"), and even the term "frisbee"!
  • Don’t send us a watermarked stock image as a ‘must-use’ unless you’re ready to purchase the usage rights from the stock website (this must be done by you prior to production – and please ensure the image purchased is of suitable size, resolution and features the appropriate license for reproduction). We are happy to search our resources for a fair-use similar image!
  • Don't ignore or try to bend the rules. If you didn't make it yourself, you most likely need permission to use it. It's not just a SOTG thing - there could be serious legal implications for our company and your team. As a creator, how would you feel if your work was stolen?
  • Don't give up! Yes, we know this can be tricky but we’re here to help! The original (and legal!) design we create together will result in a truly unique jersey!

Note: We often get asked to copy other sports’ uniforms when it comes to design elements (stripes, colours, logo position, fonts, etc). This is acceptable as long as no copyrighted logos are transferred to your design.

Molly Brown's 2019 lights were inspired by the USWNT soccer jerseys.

You can start your custom order by following this link, by completing our design request/review form, or by emailing us if you have any questions. Let's get designing!

VC offers complimentary design services for teams ordering custom apparel!

Let's Talk! 

Continue reading

World Ultimate and Guts Championships in London

World Ultimate and Guts Championships in London

Tracie Ching: Five Years as a Design Mastermind

Tracie Ching: Five Years as a Design Mastermind

Invalid password
Enter

More Information

  • Our Story
  • VC News & Blog
  • Uniforms & Custom
  • Customer Experiences
  • Refund Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Contact

Join Us

Enter your email address to join the VC community, receive our newsletter and be the first to hear about special offers. You can unsubscribe any time.

Follow us

Language
Language
VC Ultimate POS and Ecommerce by Shopify