This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
Guess what, friends? Well, first of all, welcome to Sidus Will School. It's your host, Chris Guillebeau. But also, today is the Ides of March, the Ides of March 2025. You could be listening at any point, of course, but the day this episode's going out, episode 2,996.
What's the Ides of March all about? Well, historically, it is the day Julius Caesar got a very aggressive performance review. But don't worry, there's no betrayal here. Just some stories and ideas to help you conquer the world minus the dramatic stabbing, and also maybe even not conquer the world, but help you start a side hustle or a small business, create economic empowerment. That's what we're all about.
So today's episode, let's jump in. Can you legally sell t-shirts with retro images of celebrities? Interesting idea. I don't think we've ever had this one before. Starting a business with nostalgic appeal can be a good way to tap into a passionate market.
But when it comes to using images of celebrities, even those who have passed away, it can be a little bit complicated in terms of copyright and likeness rights. So can you actually do this without getting in trouble? Can you legally sell products featuring old school celebrity images? Let's break it down. Let me see if I can help this listener, Jamie from New York, and anybody else out there interested in interesting ideas.
Detailed question and my answer coming right up. Hey, Chris. This is Jamie from New York. I'm thinking about starting a side hustle selling custom t-shirts with retro images of celebrities from the past. I know there are copyright and likeness issues with living people, but what about celebrities who've passed away?
Are their images public domain? Or would I need special permission to use them? I don't want to run into legal trouble, but I'm not sure where to start when it comes to intellectual property and vintage designs. Well, as I said, it's an interesting idea. We are all about interesting ideas, especially ones that are creative and have potential.
But I think our caller is absolutely right to pause and consider the legal implications. No legal advice here, of course. But when it comes to using images of celebrities, whether living or deceased, there are some pretty basic things I can tell you. First of all, copyright-- most images, including photos of celebrities, are copyrighted by the photographer or whoever commissioned the work. And copyright lasts for the life of the creator plus 70 years in many countries.
That's how it is in the US, but that applies in lots of other places, too. So most vintage photos are not in the public domain. And even if the celebrity has passed away, you'd still need permission from the copyright holder to use the image on a product. And most likely, they're not going to be like, hey, go for it. That sounds great, like they want to get paid for it.
And then there's the issue of likeness rights or right of publicity. So this protects a person's name, image, or likeness from being used for commercial purposes without consent. And these rights often extend beyond death. Again, it depends on jurisdiction and such. But as an example, Marilyn Monroe's estate actively manages her likeness rights, and they require licensing agreements for commercial use.
So you can't just be like, hey, I'm going to make some Marilyn Monroe shirts, and this is going to be my new business. You could try that, but you're probably going to get in trouble if you do that. So what could you do to move forward without stepping into that kind of legal difficulty? So you could use public domain images. This is going to go way back.
Older works typically created before 1923 in the US are in the public domain. They are free to use. Just make sure you double check that. And number two, you could also license the images. You could actually reach out to Marilyn Monroe's estate.
Could be expensive, could be difficult, but who knows? Maybe it's not. Maybe it could work. Then another option is to focus on some more generic retro themes, and this is what I would encourage you to do. Instead of featuring specific celebrities, design shirts around vintage styles, quotes, cultural moments from the past, that allows you to tap into nostalgia without the legal risks of using a celebrity's likeness.
Again, not legal advice here, but I think in this case, maybe be careful. Listeners, let me know what you think. If you have a question, sidehustleschool.com/questions. Much more is coming up. 3,000 episodes, in fact, almost here.
This was 2,996. As I said in the beginning, beware of the Ides of March. Take care of yourself. Hang in there. My name is Chris Guillebeau.
This is Side Hustle School. From the Onward Project.
