Using Same Phrase On Products As Other Sellers

[Tompco]

Hi There,

I am a Seller/Creator who is in the process of creating some tshirts and other products.  I've noticed

that there are instances where the same text (as in, a saying, slogan, caption, etc) appears on a tshirt,

for instance, by various different Sellers. From what I've discovered, the font and / or accompanying

photo image or graphic will differ among the different Sellers. Can I conclude from this, that as long as

a saying/phrase on a product is not trademarked, copyrighted, etc, and that a product's appearance differs,

that it is perfectly legal and within Zazzle's guidelines for me to do this?

Thank You,

Tom

[Barbara]

Your conclusion is correct. For instance, if your shirt has your own image of a coffee mug and your text says "Coffee Addict," anyone else can use the exact same text but they can't use your image. However, there are lots of public domain images of coffee mugs, and if that's what you use, then someone else can easily and legally use the same image. Since "coffee addict" is not a copyrighted phrase, that person can use it too.

[Tompco · Accepted solution]

Excellent, Barbara! Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to get back to me.

Much appreciated! 😁