While browsing Etsy.com, I noticed quite a few items that were decorated with Thomas the Tank Engine. Kids toys, birthday party stuff, blankets etc.

I know there's hundreds of Thomas stores online, in fact I've got my own Amazon based version. However, the whole concept of Etsy.com is that you make the items yourself, not buy them from a distributor who's hopefully licensed to use the logos etc.

So, I'm curious about how somebody would go about licensing Thomas items for small production runs of hand made items. Yes, I know, there's a 99.9999% chance the stuff there now isn't licensed, they just grab an image from the web and go with it.

But I was wondering if anyone here has tried to do it the proper way. Can you license the use for limited production runs? Is the cost reasonable?

I tried to reprint a long out of print childrens choo choo book some years ago. I wrote a letter, waited for months and then got a response...$1000 to reprint 125 books. Hmmmm.

I think those people of Etsy are running below the radar.

T7

I think that you could at least get an answer from HIT (Julie), you might not like it but if you were an existing site you'd at least get an answer from somebody other than a lawyer.

Years ago when we had a project with the 'Mouse' I was working directly with the VP of Consumer Merchandising and their entourage. By complete coincidence we were in a large city (actually looking for a place to eat) , and walking through a converted 'station to mall' project. You're looking at a VP, lots of support (including legal), sort of in a flying wedge like in "Christmas Vacation" walking down the hall. I'm way, way in the back.

Spotted a "Mouse store" in the mall, came to a dead halt while the VP demands answers. Quiet whispers, shaking heads...

VP walks in, puts on the perfomance of a lifetime to get the owner to admit he's the one responsible and not an employee, even gets him to pose out front for a picture. VP takes lots of pictures...

Legal walks up beside, VP whips out a business card with the Mouse on it, Legal does the same, notifies them in loud and legal language they are selling unlicensed goods and the entire store is under seizure and they'd have a court injunction there by morning, and lock the doors immediately. It was a completely 'off the radar' Mouse store.

They then went back to lunch like this stuff happened every day...

I don't know if anybody else but the Mouse would react that hard, but having been witness to that execution, I wouldn't be surprised. I had a similar shot over the bow from a movie company that I just wrote a polite inquiry letter too, and got threatened with legal action if I ever even so much as used the movie title in a letter again without their approval! If you're dumb enough to try to go under the radar and be on the internet at the same time....whoa.

My existing site sells prducts via an Amazon affiliate agreement, so I would presume those items are properly licensed. If they aren't, I guess Amazon will have to fight that battle. I'm essentially running ads for them, rather than producing any actual product.

The reason I asked is that some guy seems to be doing a pretty lucrative business of selling customized birthday party invites. You send him the name and the date, he sends you back a jpg file that you print out or have printed. A couple of templates in Photoshop and you'd be able to do one in about 20 seconds. No shipping either. Pretty sweet gig...

Looking at his store, he's a copyright lawsuit waiting to happen. He's got all kinds of brands, not just Thomas. Pick a kid's cartooon, and he's got it! (All using pretty much identical designs of course...) Cars, Chugginton, Thedore Tugboat etc.

Now, there are two possibilities:
1) He's flying under the radar, figuring they won't bother with the small stuff.
2) He has an extensive legal department, and licensing agreements with many companies.

The product sells for $13, not bad for a single jpg file, eh? That's enough money that maybe he has done some kind of licensing, I don't know. It just made me wonder.