Yesterday I received an email from BTTF.com advertising their holiday gift catalog. Their BACK TO THE FUTURE t-shirts manufactured by Thunder Creek piqued my interest. I own two other Thunder Creek t-shirts and they’re good quality, so I scoped out the inventory. A red t-shirt with a DeLorean pictured caught my eye. But wait! What’s this? I felt a wave of deja vu hit me. Upon closer inspection, this ”licensed by Universal” t-shirt is using a photograph of my DeLorean that *I* took!? WTF?

How ironic is it that Universal recently filed suit alledging MySpace was illegally redistributing their music library? Is it then O.K. for Universal to use privately owned photography and license it as their own? I’m not trying to claim that Universal doesn’t own the ”Back to the Future” property, but that’s my photo — not theirs.

Click these links to compare my image of my car and the t-shirt image:

• Click for t-shirt promo image
• Click for my photo (75% opacity) over t-shirt promo image
• Click for my photo (50% opacity) over t-shirt promo image
• Click for my photo (25% opacity) over t-shirt promo image
• Click for my photo taken during the summer of 2000 (shown)

A little conversation that I had with the Thunder Creek owner about the t-shirt. He claims Universal sent the images to him. This is pretty crazy, huh?

Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 08:50:13 -0500
From: Jeff Schalik
Subject: RE: Re: BTTF.com's e-newsletter: "Hill Valley Telegraph" (Dec. 2006)
Hi Mark,
Your car is awesome thanks for sharing. On the shirt you will have to
contact Universal Studios we have gotten all images from them.
Have a great day!
Jeff
Jeffrey Schalik
Vice President & CSO
www.thundercreekonline.com
Inc. 500  fastest growing companies

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 12:14 AM
To: Jeff Schalik
Subject: Fwd: Re: BTTF.com's e-newsletter: "Hill Valley Telegraph"  (Dec. 2006)
I own a replica BTTF time machine that I've had since 1999.  The
photograph on the t-shirt is a picture that I took of my car and posted
on my personal website.
While I'm flattered that this photo is on a t-shirt, I have not
received compensation for my work.  I own the copyright on the
photograph.  I have never given anyone permission to use my photograph.
So, what's a solution to this?  You tell me.
Respectfully,
Mark Shields