jackietreehorn wrote: ↑Mon Nov 30, 2020 9:53 amLieber has a copyright on a line drawing of wolf and tiger but does not own any rights to the shape of the guitar only that particular image. He also owns the rights to Irwin's headstock logos which I think will be challenged in the future. The Garcia Estate owns the rights to the Tiger and Wolf image. I am not sure about Rosebud but Cripes bolt is owned by GD Productions. I spoke with Doug Irwin a couple months back and offered to pay him a royalty for building my interpretation of his guitar but without his headstock design/logo nor would I use his name to market my instruments. I told him emphatically that no instrument coming out of my shop could be construed as being one built by him. He was very gracious and said that a royalty wasn't necessary. He is building again, so it will be interesting to see what happens with all of this in the future. I have been surprised that he doesn't partner with a builder to build an Irwin authorized guitar.
I believe I also read Doug Irwin's Jerry guitar shapes aren't copyrighted as guitars, which is why there are so many replicas, but they are as images, by the Garcia Estate for the purposes of selling t shirts and what not.
Jon S. wrote: ↑Sun Nov 22, 2020 10:39 am If there is any builder, of guitars, preamps, amps, effects, or buffers, who has ever paid a nickel in royalties to the original gears' creators for non-copyrighted or non-trademarked designs, I'd like to know who he, she, or they are.
I ask this because, to my knowledge and experience, when an old design or association isn't copyrighted or trademarked, no one in the music industry pays when they copy or base their new gear on it. And if I'm wrong, I'd like to know, which is why I'm asking now (it could play a future role in which builders I prioritize for my own future new gear purchases).
P.S. And I'm not saying this course of events is necessarily a laudable thing, only that I believe it's the reality of the situation and that I personally approach the practice consistently builder-to-builder. (Also, paying royalties differs from paying credit. The builders I know who riff off of Dead designs routinely credit the originals. Though, of course, if they didn't, we wouldn't be having this discussion.)