‘Hi/Bye’ Smiley Face T-Shirt Design Copyrightable

A second grader’s T-shirt design—consisting of the word “hi” with a smiley face on the front and “bye” with a frowning face on the back—is original enough to be copyrightable, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled Sept. 29 (I.C. v. Delta Galil USA, S.D.N.Y., 1:14-cv-07289, 9/29/15).

The elementary school student—whose initials are “I.C.”—won a clothing company’s contest to have her design featured on a T-shirt, the prize for which was a $100 gift card and five T-shirts bearing the design.

The company—Miss Matched Inc., now part of Delta Galil USA—then created ...