Together with her fourth Grammy beneath her belt and the announcement of her subsequent album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” Taylor Swift’s inventory has by no means been larger — and sellers of unofficial merch wish to get in on the motion.
However customers on the Reddit thread r/TaylorSwiftMerch say that’s getting more durable to do as customers and sellers report they’ve skilled canceled orders and on-line shops disappearing.
“I want to buy an ornament from Etsy, but I’ve heard Taylor is closing shops,” one particular person commented.
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“I don’t want to order something only to have the shop disappear. Has anyone had any issues or heard this rumor?”
The reply appears to be a convincing “yes.”
“Ugh, yes, I have had multiple orders cancel or not show,” one other particular person responded.
“I had to open a case with Etsy to get a refund with one of them. It’s such a bummer, especially because Etsy is the only place I can find things in actual child sizes. I wonder who is the actual driving force — Etsy, or Taylor’s team?”
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One other particular person commented on an expertise as a vendor of unofficial Taylor Swift merchandise.
“Yes, it’s true,” the particular person wrote. “I was lucky enough to only have a listing taken down [of her most popular item], but some are getting completely shut down.”
Followers get pleasure from Taylor Swift’s efficiency throughout The Eras Tour at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on Monday, Aug. 7, 2023. Swift’s followers, AKA “Swifties,” are identified to be extraordinarily loyal to the worldwide celebrity. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Occasions through Getty Photos)
Fox Information Digital reached out to Etsy for remark.
Etsy is an e-commerce web site that enables folks to purchase and promote handmade or vintage items and craft provides.
The worldwide on-line market’s coverage, as listed on its web site, states: “Etsy strives to respond quickly when we receive a report of intellectual property (IP) infringement that complies with our policies by removing or disabling access to the allegedly infringing material.”
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Etsy’s mental property (IP) coverage additionally states that sellers are liable for making certain they’ve all essential rights to their content material and that they aren’t infringing or violating any third get together’s rights by posting it.
Taylor Swift followers have expressed disappointment in a Reddit thread after Etsy appeared to crack down on unofficial merchandise connected to the singer. Taylor Swift performs onstage throughout The Eras Tour at Allianz Parque on Nov. 24, 2023, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Buda Mendes/TAS23/Getty Photos for TAS Rights Administration)
The 2 issues creators and sellers of unofficial merchandise must be careful for are copyright and trademark infringement, Mark Siegmund, a Central Texas-based lawyer who makes a speciality of IP, informed Fox Information Digital.
“Copyright is essentially a bundle of rights given to an author of a work that allows them to control, protect it and exploit their artistic works,” Siegmund stated.
“And it only has to be a couple of things in order to be a protectable copyright. It has to be original and, in some sense, it has to be fixed, meaning not purely ethereal,” he added.
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Copyright protects literary works, musical works, dramatic works, recordings and the rest alongside these traces, stated Siegmund.
In 2015, Taylor Swift got here down on Etsy sellers by sending them cease-and-desist letters. The star has trademarked (Buda Mendes/TAS23/Getty Photos for TAS Rights Administration )
“When you have a copyright, you have a lot of different rights,” Siegmund stated.
“You have the right to reproduce it, make derivative works of that copyright, distribute copies of that, and then, obviously, to keep others from doing it.”
A trademark, he added, generally is a phrase, phrase or design — or mixture of these — that identifies a specific good or service.
“A good example is a logo,” he additionally stated. “For instance, the Nike swoosh.”
In 2015, Taylor Swift got here down on Etsy sellers by sending them cease-and-desist letters, which Siegmund stated is normally a warning these people could possibly be in violation of copyright legal guidelines. Earlier that 12 months, Swift utilized to trademark a number of phrases from 1989, together with “this sick beat” and “party like it’s 1989.”
In 2007, Swift filed her first trademark software, which was her name, “Taylor Swift.”
Since then, she’s filed at the least 200 trademark functions that embody all the pieces from tune lyrics to album covers to tour names, Siegmund stated.
Taylor Swift reportedly has filed fairly just a few trademark functions connected to her tour names, tune lyrics, initials and extra. (iStock; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
So, if folks create merchandise and prints phrases or pictures on that merchandise, they need to listen if these phrases or pictures have been trademarked by the artist or creator.
Siegmund stated, nonetheless, that the creator doesn’t personal sure phrases or marks outright.
“You only have the rights to how that word is used within your particular goods or services,” he stated.
“How similar is the mark to your mark? Would the public be confused by it? And is the mark even within the same industry? So those are the kinds of things that people who are using famous rights have to watch out for.”
For instance, Siegmund stated, Swift has a trademark registration for the word “Swiftie.”
So, if somebody created an unofficial T-shirt that has “Swiftie” printed on it, that particular person could possibly be in violation of Swift’s mental property.
Taylor Swift followers Tiana Kuhlmann, Anna Kuhlmann and Matthew Reed show their friendship bracelets earlier than the world premiere of “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” film at AMC Mission Valley 20 on Oct. 13, 2023 in San Diego. (Daniel Knighton/Getty Photos)
One Reddit poster requested, “Is there any kind of fan-made merch that would indeed be legal and wouldn’t violate IP? Are there any TS fan-made items that could be allowed to be sold legally?”
It will get tough, Siegmund stated, when contemplating the idea of title, picture, likeness (NIL).
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“People have the right to control commercial use of their name, image and likeness or other kinds of unique aspects of who they are,” he stated.
“This could be another major concern for people in regard to Taylor Swift. If they’re using her name, for example, potentially the partial use of her name and product descriptions or titles or whatever could be seen as an attempt to profit from her identity.”
“And that would infringe on her right of publicity, which would be a problem,” Siegmund stated.
Taylor Swift attends the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Area on Feb. 4, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Photos)
Additionally, merch makers can’t promote something that suggests that Taylor Swift or another creator is related to what they’re promoting — until, after all, they’ve her permission to take action.
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That might even be a misuse of a proper of publicity.
One Taylor Swift fan on Reddit hopes the pop star opens “her own Etsy” store so followers can legally promote merchandise. (Buda Mendes/TAS23/Getty Photos for TAS Rights Administration)
A few of Swift’s followers on Reddit commented that they respect artists’ rights, saying, “Yeah, it’s tough with the fan-made stuff, but gotta support artists, too.”
Others stated they’d like the possibility to work with the star.
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“I want she would open her personal Etsy for fan merch,” one particular person instructed.
“Let folks use her lyrics etc. but have a team check them all first and charge fees etc. as her cut, the same way Etsy does. We’d have more variety, and she’d be supporting artists.”
One other particular person agreed, “It could be superior if she collaborated with fans!”
Followers get pleasure from Taylor Swift’s efficiency throughout The Eras Tour at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on Monday, Aug. 7, 2023. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Occasions through Getty Photos)
Swift just lately filed paperwork to trademark the phrase “TAYLOR-CON,” which implies the star may quickly be slapping her personal label onto merchandise, in response to a latest report by TMZ and the trademark software that was obtained by the information outlet.
Fox Information Digital reached out to Swift’s publicist for remark.
Fox Information Digital additionally reached out to Amazon and Walmart, as each websites promote Taylor Swift-themed merchandise.
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