Not long ago I received a message through my Zazzle storefront about a buyer’s difficulty with purchasing one of my T-shirt designs. The nature and phrasing of the message left me scratching my head—not about the problem itself, but about the message’s legitimacy. Was it the real thing or a spam message? I couldn’t tell, so I shelved the matter; if it was for real, the sender might follow up.

Indeed, today that very thing happened. Alas, I was forced to refer the purchaser to Zazzle’s customer service, as they handle fulfillment and shipping, not the individual storefront proprietors. Fortunately, Zazzle responded in a timely manner, and all’s well that ends well!

Ah, but if that really were the end of the story, it hardly would be worth a post, nicht war? Curious, I asked how this customer discovered the shirt in question. The answer turned out to be that the lead singer, Philip Labonte, of a favorite band, All That Remains, wears the very shirt in some publicity photos!

I was extremely flattered—and very surprised. I had never been contacted about the use of my work in promotional material. If I could find a way to e-mail the band or Mr. Labonte, I would let them know I would be happy to provide ex post facto written permission. Moreover, I also would like to warn them that not everyone is as relaxed about such unauthorized uses as I am.

Addendum: I’ve gotten conflicting reports about the necessity for permission. It may be on the safe side of the “endorsement or centrally featured” benchmark, but one hopes the band consulted a lawyer to make sure of that before posing for the photos.