Bar says it will keep selling T-shirts of smoking Jim Leyland

[detlump]

It's not just the Old English D, it is Leyland's likeness. You can't profit from using his likeness without his permission.

[Occurrence]

It's not just the Old English D, it is Leyland's likeness. You can't profit from using his likeness without his permission.

Technically you can. It would fall under parody, or along those lines.

If someone wouldn't have made a big deal about this and the article wasn't written, a lot of people probably would have never heard of or seen this shirt. I guess there is no such thing as publicity.

[downtownguy]

It's not just the Old English D, it is Leyland's likeness. You can't profit from using his likeness without his permission.

But isn't there something about when you use it as as a parody or for satire? Is the Old English D the issue? Or is it Leyland's likeness? The bar owner says he may replace the "D" on the hat. How much do you have to change it? While the Tiger's "D" may be somewhat different from a typical Old English D, it still bears a resemblance to many publicly available fonts. Peering from behind those sunglasses, how do we know that's really Leyland? I imagine there are some fine points to what is allowable and what isn't. Again, I claim ignorance. That's why I asked the question. If not for Ilitch's might, would the bar owner have any legal ground for selling these? Any lawyers out there?

Edit-
Occurence, thanks for your contribution. You got your post in on parodies a few minutes before I got mine in.

[wolverine]

But isn't there something about when you use it as as a parody or for satire? Is the Old English D the issue? Or is it Leyland's likeness? The bar owner says he may replace the "D" on the hat. How much do you have to change it? While the Tiger's "D" may be somewhat different from a typical Old English D, it still bears a resemblance to many publicly available fonts. Peering from behind those sunglasses, how do we know that's really Leyland? I imagine there are some fine points to what is allowable and what isn't. Again, I claim ignorance. That's why I asked the question. If not for Ilitch's might, would the bar owner have any legal ground for selling these? Any lawyers out there?

Edit-
Occurence, thanks for your contribution. You got your post in on parodies a few minutes before I got mine in.

The underlined part is why I think the trademark infringement is the only issue here. They aren't explicit in saying it's Leyland. But the logo is protected.

For the record, I think the shirt is cool. I'm not trying to rain on the parade here. But just because it was a cool and creative idea doesn't mean you get pass-card for using someone's logo. How is it any different from taking logos and images on this website without permission and trying to sell them?