female wrote:I guess you're right. I think I'm just thinking that the context of the those objects together clearly are intended to represent Legend of Zelda. Saying they individually have no meaning may be true, but when you put them together there is no doubt in anyone's mind that you're trying to make and sell a Legend a Zelda shirt. We all know it, it's just then a legal argument along the lines of "that depends on what the definition of is is." The style of the hearts, the exact same shaped sword and crystals, a fairy in a bottle. I remember designs get rejected for less. Calvin and ball weren't copyrighted words, but put them together and you're capitalizing on Bill Watterson's work without any added content. The phrase itself wasn't even legally copyrighted, but it was/is his intellectual property. I can't think of any design that woot printed that was just capitalizing on the original work without making an additional comment on it. Maybe they're changing their stance.
Ja, it's pretty cool now that I think about it. The name "Zelda" isn't written anywhere on the detail or the comp - only in my first post. People still recognize the item combo though. I spent about 5 hours yesterday just thinking about how I could do a shirt inspired by The Legend of Zelda, and by the end, I chose the items that I thought best represented the game without tripping on copyrights (i.e. no Triforce). Just looking at the items though, it's also representative of the overall genre that the Zelda series inspired in the years that followed. How many games had the hero wielding a wooden sword? How many games had creatures bottled for consumption or other usage? Most of all, how many games used those pixelated hearts!
After careful consideration, I'm still going to say that there's no real copyright infringement. Calvin and ball weren't copyright to Watterson, but I've never seen Calvinball in anything outside his work. The items on my design may cause people to think of Zelda first, because it's one of the most popular and loved game series of all time, but the items (and even the combo) are not unique to the Zelda series alone.
