T-shirts Court Action

RSA

A 4 line perl implementation of RSA encryption and its 8 line barcode equivalent were printed on a shirt. This shirt was technically illegal to export from the USA, or even for it to be viewed by a foreigner.


DeCSS

A perl implementation of the algorithm used to decrypt DVD discs was printed on T-shirts. Under the DMCA it is illegal to reverse engineer copy protections or disseminate circumvention devices. T-shirts of this script were made to fund the Electronic Frontier Foundation defence against a movie industry suit for making DeCSS public.


Anti-apartheid

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission heard that Robin Houston Holmes was charged for producing illegal material, i.e. T-shirts condemning apartheid. Refer to official TRC Statement. Styles included -

"We are Everywhere, Even in your Kitchen"
"Mxenge, The Struggle Continues"
Steve Biko 


Fuck the Draft

In Cohen v. California 403 U.S. 15 (1971) Paul Robert Cohen, 19, was arrested for wearing a jacket with the words "Fuck the Draft" inside the Los Angeles Courthouse. He was convicted of violating section 415 of the California Penal Code, which prohibits "maliciously and willfully disturb[ing] the peace or quiet of any neighborhood or person [by] offensive conduct."

The conviction was appealed to the state Court of Appeals, which held that "offensive conduct" means "behavior which has a tendency to provoke others to acts of violence or to in turn disturb the peace," and affirmed the conviction.

The Supreme Court, by a vote of 5-4, overturned the appellate court's ruling. "Absent a more particularized and compelling reason for its actions," it said, "the State may not, consistently with the First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment, make the simple public display of this single four-letter expletive a criminal offense."


Bollocks to Blair

There have been arrests in Britain of people wearing T-shirts bearing the phrase Bollocks to Blair. This has provoked much debate on whether Britain's freedom of speech is being eroded.

In September 2005, 20 year old Charlotte Dennis was arrested at a Gloucestershire event for wearing this item. In April 2006, a Conservative Party worker was threatened with arrest for wearing a Bollocks to Blair T-shirt. 



Non-Court Actions

George W. Bush - International Terrorist

A high school junior in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, Bretton Barber, was asked to remove his anti-George W. Bush T-shirt in the lead up to the Iraq War. It featured a picture of GWB with the words "International Terrorist". He was asked to remove it because it supported terrorism. The student sued his school district and his principal in Federal District Court in Detroit, MI. (Bretton Barber v. Dearborn Public Schools) In a twenty-five page published opinion, Barber won the lawsuit, and his high school was ordered to allow him to wear the shirt. Refer to article High School tells student to remove shirt.


Give Peace a Chance

In the lead up to the Iraq War, a man was asked to leave a shopping mall by a security guard because of his "Give Peace a Chance T-shirt".


Meet the Fuckers

In October of 2005, Lorrie Heasley, of Portland, Oregon, was removed from a Southwest Airlines flight in Reno, Nevada for wearing a T-shirt displaying an image of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Michael Chertoff and Michael Brown with the caption, "Meet the Fuckers".


Counterfeit Trademarked Merchandise

Unlicenced merchandise has been a problem at sporting events, especially with some vendors who attempt to sell counterfit or unlicenced merchandise intending to exploit a trademark, especially tee-shirts, and especially in certain events.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the Department of Homeland Security frequently enforces trademarks by leading counterfit merchandise busts to protect intellectual property rights held by the sports organisations and participants themselves.

ICE agents explained criminals could exploit the illegal merchandise trail, and in 2005, busted over 20,000 illegal items sold at Super Bowl XXXIX valued at over five million dollars, and at the Aaron's 499, over seven thousand pieces of counterfeit merchandise were seized.

Counterfeit merchandise costs licensors over $250 million per year.


Dale Earnhardt

One of the largest cases of unlicensed merchandise came in 2001 shortly after the death of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt. The Earnhardts have long been abused by counterfeiters who violate the family's trademarks (including the stylised numbers 3 and 8 trademarks on cars from the family), but when Dale Senior was killed at the Daytona 500, the abuse of the family trademarks began in earnest.

Under NASCAR rules, the Earnhardts require licences from both Dale Earnhardt, Inc. and NASCAR.

In the first three months after Earnhardt's death, over $20 million in illegal tee-shirts and other merchandise was sold.