More on ‘NYC Shuts Down Muni T-Shirt Maker’

sf is not nyc

We told you about the case of the 40withegg blogger, who made a bunch of t-shirts with the letter logos of Muni’s Metro trains, only to be shut down by New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Agency.

New York? Seriously.

In the comments section of our original post, we received some interesting tidbits from “Jim from NY.” Apparently the same lawyers, on behalf of NY MTA, had also sent similar letters to Ahmed Samhan of F-Line* Bagels in Brooklyn in 2006, forcing him to remove the “F” train logo from its front sign.

NY MTA claims that people may confuse the bagel shop with the transit agency. The Brooklyn Paper reports, hilariously:

Yes, Samhan’s store was filled with the subway system’s distinctive iconography. And yes, it sits under the Smith/Ninth Street station.

But any similarities between F-Line Bagels and the F line end there.

For one thing, Samhan’s store is sparkling clean. For another, his employees are friendly. And never once has anyone tried to search my bag when I entered F-Line Bagels.

Jim also reports that the same lawyers have also taken on a bakery selling cookies with frosting designed in the shape/color of the route bullets and a photographer selling images he took on the subway.

CafePress, where 40withegg had meant to sell some shirts, took his wares down, citing a cease-and-desist letter it received from NYMTA. 40witheggs included some communication from NY MTA’s lawyers, saying that his “use of the subway route symbols and/or other subway imagery infringes upon their intellectual property rights (trademark).”

Can the NY MTA really register “any letter in a solid color circle”? Then does SF MTA have to pay NY MTA for using their fancy dancy route bullet design? And to state the slightly obvious, these shirts are poking fun at San Francisco’s Muni, and I hardly think anyone is confusing these shirts for the New York subway.

Any of you copyright lawyers out there able to shed some light for us?

* to any lawyers representing transit agencies in other cities, we’re referring to the NYMTA’s F line, not San Francisco’s beloved tourist hot box, the F.

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Written by: eugenia

September 3rd, 2009 in muni news

Comments (4)

MandySeptember 3rd, 2009 at 12:40 pm

Studied copyright law in law schoo but by no means a copyright lawyer. A copyright eventually expires though. If someone actually created it its seventy years after they died, if it is unclear who created it or it was for hire than it is 95 years from their death or 120 years from its creation. It seems like the sign should not actually be copyrightable material and if it was created before 1976 I think it should have a copyright notice (that little c in the cirlce with a year). it could be that the t -shirts that the NYMTA sells are copyrighted (and wouldn’t require the notice if created after 1976). It could be a trademark issue though.

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PearlharborSeptember 3rd, 2009 at 2:31 pm

I’m the rights and repro manager at an art museum, so most of my knowledge is for scholarly images, but here’s what I know. Since NY MTA own the rights to the yellow on black design, it really depends on the fine print of the patent. It may say “we own the rights to all variations / color variations of this design” or something to that effect. If it doesn’t say that, then they can’t legally stop someone from doing that. Regarding the photographer who was selling pictures of the subway, the photographer does have to seek permission from NY MTA since he is selling the images for a profit and it is the exact image of the subway (not a variation of the logo, as 40withegg blogger was doing).
Your next step should probably be getting a lawyer (hopefully pro bono or else the charges can sky rocket) to find out the exact wording regarding the patent and copyright of this logo, and then they can draft a letter to NY MTA in response to the cease and desist request.

I’m guessing this cease and desist request is due to the fact that the MTA sells tshirts of their own and they don’t want to lose business.

Best of luck on this case! Please keep us posted.

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Joe MooreSeptember 3rd, 2009 at 9:25 pm

Success! The SFWeekly picked up my story (http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2009/09/nycs_mta_says_they_own_the_mun.php), made some phone calls to the NY MTA, and verified they “have no claim on Muni’s icons,” and “would need to look into the specifics of this case in greater detail to determine why the letter may have been sent.” In addition, the NY MTA states that the “images on Mr. Moore’s blog did not appear to show anything that would represent a trademark violation against the New York MTA.”

Thanks again everyone for your support!

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