thirdgenbird

agreed, but i think apple has positioned themselves where they could profit heavily off their branding. (messenger bags, tshirts, sandals) there are some crazy apple fanatics out there (and this was posted from a macbook)

khatfull

Ok, a photo of a painting? I knew you were detail oriented....sheesh

jimmuller 

If you're going to go through the trouble, Alexander Hamilton makes more sense.

himespau 

Hamilton? Why not find the right paper and ink and do Franklin if you're putting forth the effort? Though Jackson is much less likely to be suspicious when you go try to buy things with your "picture"

beech333

Yes, if he truly never took out a patent, then he is far more likely to alllow his image to be used on a bicycle decal.

Wait! What are we talking about?

jimmuller 

Alexander Hamilton was the first Secretary Of the Treasury and his picture is on the front of the $10,000 bill. At one time that was the largest bill printed in the US. Perhaps they have changed that recently. With his picture you get the most buck for the bang, so to speak.

On second thought, maybe this isn't such a good idea.

20grit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_d...tates_currency
The Hamilton Bill was not the largest.

T-Mar

There was similar issue about five years ago in the model railroad industry. The Union Pacific Railroad went on a litigation spree, suing for unauthorized use of their logos on model trains and insisting the manufacturers obtain a license and pay royalties. Big names like Lionel and Athearn fell into line but MTH resisted. The suit brought against MTH insisted they stop using the UP trademark, pay damages, and send UP branded inventory to the railroad to be destroyed.

However, the hobbyists supported MTH and it turned into a public relaions disaster for UP. The suit was settled out of court, in a manner that reportedly still allows UP to protect its intellectual property. However, Union Pacific also decided to change its trademark licensing program so that model railroad manufacturers no longer have to pay a royalty, and enjoy a perpetual license to use Union Pacific trademarks and paint designs on model railroad products.

I think that if push came to shove in the decal reproduction field, the bicycle brand owners would look closely at the Union Pacific versus MTH case. I'm not sure what the particular outcome was, pertaining to how UP protects it's intellectual property, but it would seem reasonable that UP retain the right to approve the artwork and/or prototypes to ensure their trademarks are not being reproduced in a substandard fashion that would be injurous to their image. It seems to me like that would be the win-win situation for both parties.

himespau 

Oh, see I thought the $10 had Hamilton on it, which while I'm always happy to find an extra tenner in my wallet isn't as impressive as finding an extra jackson (I have an actual franklin in there in the moment and it's kind of a pain because lots of places around here won't break it).

Amesja

The modern $10,000 note did not have Hammy on it. It was Salmon Portland Chase-treasury secretary under Lincoln. Nor was the $10,000 note the largest printed -that was the $100,000 note with Woody Wilson on the face. Incidentally the Woody portrait, along with Hammy, are the only two normal-sized US paper currency that have (had) the faces pointed to the left rather than the right. The notes over the size of $100 are no longer printed or used. I remember the $500 bills and even had one as recently as the early 90's.

Hammy was on a very old $10,000 note that was SUPER-sized: