Less than a week after a photo of Carlton AFLW star Tayla Harris sparked a social media storm, AFL House have allegedly demanded independent clothing company League Tees to remove all products inspired by the image.
League Tees, an unofficial AFL franchise who sell football inspired clothing products, were allegedly asked to remove their #standwithtayla t-shirts and badges as they constitute copyright infringement of a photograph of Tayla Harris in which the AFL owns copyright.
While the AFL alleges that the company have breached their intellectual property rights, League Tees stand by their design and claim that it’s their own original artwork.
MORE: Richmond suspend club member over racist comments directed at West Coast forward Liam Ryan | Against a depleted GWS, Essendon's contested possessions about as bad as it gets
League Tee's ultimately decided to remove the products from sale due to their financial inability to "defend (their) rights and fight the AFL in court." The $1002.75 profit already made from the sale was donated to the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation.
Last week we created some products featuring our own original artwork of Tayla Harris. $1002.75 from sales was donated to @theALNF . The AFL has demanded that we remove these products from sale claiming a breach of IP rights. We deny these claims.
— League Tees (@LeagueTees) March 26, 2019
While League Tees were allegedly forced to remove their products, the company released an email exchange to present their case.
"Badges distributed by the AFL at the AFLW final on March 23 contain a silhouette representation of Tayla Harris that bears a likeness to art shared by social media users on the evening of March 18," League Tees stated.
"The Tayla Harris inspired artwork created by League Tees is substantially different to any of these designs.
"The designs identified by your email first went on sale on leaguetees.com.au at 8:00AM Wednesday March 20. The AFL’s photo of Tayla Harris first came to media prominence on the evening of Tuesday 19. It is impossible to suggest that this image was in the public consciousness for a sufficient time period for it to create a reputation benefit for the AFL.
"In light of these clear disclaimers we do not believe there is any basis on which to allege that League Tees has engaged in conduct likely to mislead or deceive or conduct likely to be considered passing off.
"...Despite primarily being a charity fundraiser, we have decided to remove our Tayla Harris shirt and Tayla Harris badge from sale."
Under the Trade Marks Act 1995, the owner of a registered trademark has the exclusive rights to use the trade mark and authorise others to use it as well.
However, a trademark infrigement may occur when a person "uses as a trade mark (or a sign) that is substantially identical with, or deceptively similar to, the trade mark in relation to goods or services in respect of which the trade mark is registered."
According to League Tees, the AFL "alleged that the products complained about are likely to constitute copyright infringement of a photograph in which the AFL owns copyright."
Although a re-worked version of the image became the branded logo of the AFLW on Thursday March 21, the infringement occured over the "photograph in which the AFL owns copyright."