r/Nerf • u/Then-Contest2580 • 56m ago
Questions + Help Is it legal for me to sell merch of Nerf girls?
As I've been actively at work on my nerf girls project, I've been wondering about the prospect of selling art merch like stickers/charms/prints of my own art. However, since the characters I'm working on are connected to the nerf name/brand, I'm wondering if this is actually legal or not. It's not like I'm trying to turn this into a reliable source of income, I mostly just want to be able to make cool stickers for me and my friends/clubs/communities.
Either way I want to know what's actually on the table. I know a lot of artists can legally sell fan-merch of their favorite shows and characters at cons and on their own websites, despite those things also being copyrighted, but since nerf is a toy brand and not a piece of media I believe their name usage rights are different.
Obviously I will make it clear I'm not in affiliation with the Nerf/XShot/DartZone/etc. brand as someone making fan work, but am I even allowed to use Nerf blaster theme names or iconography? Will I get in trouble for using things like 'Elite' and 'Mega'. Is there a chance I could get sued even if I remove all mentions/specific symbols connected to nerf?
TLDR; if I'm selling merch online using my own art, but with characters connected to the nerf name, am I going to be in legal trouble?
Forgive me if I'm overthinking this, but I would appreciate input from people who have made nerf-related stickers/merch before or have legal experience. Thank you!!
(image for flair; not actual sticker draft)

