Can I sell airbrushed shirts with pictures of celebrities?

Question

Can I sell shirts with pictures of, let's say 2pac, etc. legally? Without mentioning their name, just their face. Is there a legal loophole like saying: "that's not him" or "I'm not selling the shirt, I'm giving the shirt away, I'm just getting paid for (insert something)" =)

Answer 1

If your operation is small-scale and respectful to the people portrayed, you might not have a problem anyway. It all depends on if they decide to invoke their rights to make money off their own image. If you are just doing a few here and there, they probably won't take notice. If they do, you are no match. The good news is, you would have to tick off a whole lot of celebrities- who don't really care about you anyway- before you run out of people to portray.

Here's an idea, but I apologize, I'm not sure of its exact legality in all juristictions, but it could be a starting point for your research. You can call your designs "art" and ask for donations to help you "further your work" or "more deeply explore the depths of your talent," with "free" t-shirts given to people who give donations of a certain ammount.