This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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IP complaint ends anime t-shirt venture. Hey friends, welcome to Side Hustle School. Welcome as well to Failure Friday. This is our weekly segments where we focus on what we can learn from something that does not go well. A collection of short stories, in other words, about mistakes, missteps, disasters, and of course, failure, you get to hear directly from a side hustler who has struggled to get something off the ground or otherwise encountered a pretty major obstacle.
And they're gonna tell you this short story of something that went wrong. The whole point is to consider what we can take away from the misadventure, let's call it. What can we take away? How can we improve with our next idea or our next attempt? If you have tried starting side hustles or small businesses and it hasn't gone well, or if you've never really pursued an idea, perhaps out of fear or perhaps just because you're not sure what to do next, or I don't know, there's all kinds of reasons we get stuck in inaction.
I want to encourage you through these stories, both all of the positive case studies that we present and also the stories of challenge, that it is possible to move forward. And it's possible to move forward and it's better to move forward. And there is something that you can do. There's something that everyone can do to create extra income to build the financial freedom that's so important to all of us. So let's hear today from Sam.
He's gonna bring us this challenge in the form of a T-shirt enterprise. He wanted to basically copy some anime designs, or I'm not sure if he was copying the designs or creating his own derivative designs, but nevertheless, it's difficult to do that because other people own the copyright or the intellectual property, such as the case may be. And then they don't always like when you profit from it. So let's hear the story from Sam. I'll be back at the end with a few words of wrap up.
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Hi, I'm Sam. I've always been a huge fan of anime and I thought it would be a great idea to combine my passion with a business venture. So I decided to create and sell T-shirts featuring popular anime characters. It seemed like a straightforward way to make some extra money doing something I enjoyed. However, things didn't go as planned.
I started by designing a few T-shirts featuring characters from one of my favorite series. Okay, I won't lie. I used AI to help me with the designs, but they looked great and I was confident they would sell well. I listed them on one of the big platforms and promoted them through anime fan groups. The initial response was positive and I started making some sales.
However, about a week into the venture, I received an email from the selling platform. My heart sank as I read it. The email stated that my T-shirts had been delisted due to an intellectual property, IP complaint, filed by the anime's IP owner. They claimed that I was using their characters without permission, which violated their rights. I was taken aback.
I knew that using popular characters could be tricky, but I didn't realize the seriousness of the issue. I immediately contacted the platform's support team to understand what went wrong and if there was anything I could do to resolve it. They explained that the IP owner had every right to protect their property and that it was likely I had indeed infringed on those rights by using their characters without permission. I had unknowingly stepped into a legal minefield. The platform informed me that any further violations could lead to my account being suspended or permanently banned.
In other words, it wasn't just about losing those few listings. My whole account was at risk. Fortunately, the financial loss wasn't huge. I had only invested a small amount since I used AI for the design and the shirts would only be printed with each order and I also managed to sell a few before they were taken down. However, the experience taught me a lesson about the importance of checking on IP before selling something.
So next, instead of using characters that belong to someone else, I started working on original designs. I still used AI tools like Mid-Journey, but the new designs focused on anime-inspired themes and styles while avoiding any direct use of copyrighted characters. This shift not only kept me out of legal trouble, but it also allowed me to list a bunch more designs. They didn't sell at the same rate as the others, but so far I've sold two dozen and I hope to sell many more. Looking back, I realized that my initial attempt was naive.
I thought I could ride the wave of a popular anime's success, but I overlooked the legal implications. I'm grateful that the setback wasn't more severe and for anyone thinking of starting a similar venture, I can't stress enough the importance of understanding what you can and can't do when it comes to other people's work. But for now, I'm out of the woods and focused on my new listings. [Music]
Thanks so much, Sam. I too am glad that it was not more serious.
You just have to be careful about selling other people's work, but now you know that. And so hopefully Sam can go forward with a better idea for his next project. And listeners never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat. I'm sure that Sam will be back strong. And listeners, if you have struggled with something, I want you to know that there's always a new project, a new idea, or a new way to move forward, no matter what has happened.
And that's the encouragement that I try to bring to myself whenever I encounter setbacks as well. So it's not just for you, it's for all of us really. If you have a question and an update about your "Hustle Side Hustle School" dot com, this has been episode 2,813, new episode every day, always completely free. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. My name's Chris Guillebeau, this is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the "Onward Project."
