TABLE OF CONTENTS
I’m using my corporate lawyer brain to explain as simply and clearly as possible!
Calligraphers worry about this copyright question all the time:
“Someone wants to pay me to write their wedding song lyrics in calligraphy… is this allowed, or am I going to get in copyright trouble?”
The Short Answer: You might be violating copyright law, but you probably won’t get in trouble for this one job
The Long Answer: It’s complicated. I’ll try and explain it in easy terms, so keep reading…
THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS
DISCLAIMER - I am not a practicing lawyer, and even when I was, I did not specialize in Intellectual Property Law. So this article is by no means comprehensive and it is NOT personalized legal advice. This is just based on my own experience and knowledge as a professional calligrapher.
First, let’s distinguish between COPYRIGHT and TRADEMARK, ‘cause they’re two different things.
1. Copyright Laws
Protect creators. Because people who create original stuff should get some protection from other people stealing their stuff and claiming it as their own.
EXAMPLE: Imagine you spent months working on a poem, laboring over each word, getting the rhythm just right, and then you launch it into the world by posting it on your Instagram…. And then three months later, you see someone making money selling T-shirts with your poem in huge print. You’d probably be pretty upset. That’s something YOU created out of your heart and mind. Someone else shouldn’t be able to just use it however they want, right?
Legally, as soon as you create an original work (an essay, painting, song lyrics, sculpture, photograph, etc.) you’re protected by Copyright law as the creator of that work.
That means YOU have the exclusive right to authorize or prohibit:
Reproduction of the work
Adaptation of the work
Creation of derivative works based on the work
Public performance or display of the work
Distribution or sale of copies of the work
Broadcasting of the work
IMPORTANT NOTE: As a general rule, calligraphy itself is NOT PROTECTED by copyright law. (See Section 906.4 of the Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices). That’s because fonts, typefaces, lettering and calligraphy are all variations of the ALPHABET, which is a “building block of expression.”
Think about it - if someone owned the copyright for “Copperplate Calligraphy”, that means no one else would be able to write a copperplate-style “H” without getting permission. That would really stifle creativity and expression, right?
Now, if you write out an original phrase in your own calligraphy, then photograph it in a unique way… that PHOTOGRAPH might have copyright protection, but not the calligraphy itself. Confusing, huh? That’s why I’m trying to explain this stuff as plainly as possible. Anyway, back to whether writing song lyrics in calligraphy counts as copyright infringement👇
OFFICIAL COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION:
Now, to make your copyright claim more “official”, you can register it with the U.S. Copyright Office, but that doesn’t CREATE your rights as a creator… it just makes it more visible to the government. It’s like a baby - at birth, she has all the legal protections that any other human has, but if there’s no birth certificate, it’s much harder to prove that baby exists and enforce all of her rights.)
Example of Copyrighted works: Moana artwork, Moana soundtrack, Moana script
———————-——————VERSUS————————————————
2. Trademark Laws
Protect businesses, namely commercial names, phrases & logos. Because other soda companies shouldn’t be able to put “Coca-Cola” or the Pepsi symbol on their drinks and sell them. That would be chaos and it would really harm businesses.
EXAMPLE: Imagine you spent hours coming up with a unique calligraphy business name and paid a graphic designer $500 to create an awesome logo for you, incorporating your calligraphy. You’d be pretty pissed if you saw another calligrapher using that exact business name and logo to promote their own products, right?
OFFICIAL TRADEMARK REGISTRATION:
In order to be protected by the Trademark laws, you MUST register your trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and continuously protect it (meaning, you have to patrol for people trying to use your brand name or logo and then try and actively stop them from doing it).
Example of Trademarks: The “Disney” name and logo
MY TRADEMARK TROUBLE
When I first quit law, I thought I wanted to knit for a living (turns out NOPE). I had an Etsy shop for a few months where I sold knitted scarves and cowls.
The Hunger Games movies had recently come out, and you know that over-the-shoulder knit wool thing that Katniss wears? That was pretty popular.
So I knitted up something similar, named it the “Katniss” cowl and proudly listed it in my Etsy shop.
You know what happened next? I got featured at the top of Google when you searched for “katniss cowl”.... YAY!
And immediately afterwards… I got served a scary CEASE & DESIST Intellectual Property Policy Violation notice from Etsy, saying they had deactivated my listing. Womp womp. 😨
Thankfully, the fix was easy. I changed the name from “Katniss cowl” to “Huntress cowl”, made sure any Hunger Games trademarked words were out of all of my product listings, and continued on my merry way.
I was scared straight, even though I got off really easy.
But, if you receive multiple complaints of trademark infringement, Etsy could totally shut down your entire shop. Or ban you. Or you could get sued.
SO WILL YOU GET IN TROUBLE?
… if you write copyrighted song lyrics in calligraphy and sell them?
Depends on three questions:
When was the song first created?
The general rule is that copyright protection lasts for the life of the creator of the work, plus 70 years. So, if the song was written by someone who’s been dead for 70 years, that song has “entered the public domain”, which basically means it belongs to the public now and anyone can use it for any purposes.
What is your risk tolerance for getting caught?
If you’re going to write one song in calligraphy and sell it in a private transaction, what are the chances that the creator of that song will find you and sue you? Probably zero.
And even if the song creator happened to be a friend of your customer, saw the calligraphy and demanded justice… what would the consequences be? Destroying that work, or maybe paying them some of the $100 that you charged for it? The risk is pretty minimal.
Now, if you calligraphy a bunch of Disney songs, create prints and list them on Etsy with the name “Disney” in the description and headline… now you’re violating both copyright and trademark and since Disney can be pretty rigorous about enforcing their trademarks, there’s a much higher chance that you’ll get caught.
What are the consequences? Probably minimal, especially for your first time, but there’s a possibility your Etsy shop gets closed down, or you might even get sued
What are your values around this?
Some people think that selling a few calligraphed versions of copyrighted works doesn’t do much harm in the grand scheme of things. Others believe that the creators absolutely should not be taken advantage of in this way. No judgment here, that call is for you to make.
There is a THIRD OPTION: You can try and contact the creator of the song and get permission to create a calligraphy version. Probably they won’t answer. But they might respond and say “yeah, go ahead!” or “yes, but you need to pay me a $20 licensing fee”. Or, they might prohibit you from doing it at all. And then, if you go ahead and do it anyway, you’re acting against their express wishes.
So there you go. A hopefully plain-English, not-too-boring explanation of what you need to watch out for as a calligrapher potentially violating copyright and trademark laws.
(As a creator and maybe business owner, there’s stuff for you to know on the CREATOR and ENFORCER side of these laws… but that’s a whole other blog post.)
Hope it was helpful!
Hey I’m Shinah!
Harvard lawyer turned sassy calligrapher and multi-million-dollar business owner.
I make calligraphy & biz more DOABLE, so you can go after your dreams!