T-shirts emblazoned with "2004 Big Ten Showdown" and "Michigan State vs. Ohio State" that circulated at Saturday's home football game were confiscated from unlicensed sellers milling around several campus parking lots.
The four men were cited for selling merchandise without a permit before Saturday's football game. Three of them were selling unlicensed T-shirts.
A 46-year-old Detroit man was caught at 11:35 a.m. for selling "Big Ten Showdown" T-shirts for $5 in Lot 63, south of the Breslin Center, MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said.
A 46- and 40-year-old set of brothers from Detroit was also cited for selling $5 T-shirts. One man was reportedly found in Lot 78, west of the Duffy Daugherty Football Building at 11:10 a.m. The other was cited at 10:40 a.m. on the south side of Munn Ice Arena, McGlothian-Taylor said.
Selling unlicensed products hurts the university's scholarship programs, said Terry Livermore, manager of University Licensing Programs.
"It competes with licensed products that are designed to generate student scholarships," Livermore said.
A 50-year-old Chicago man also was cited for trespassing while selling official MSU items in the east side of Lot 63, McGlothian-Taylor said.
All three men selling unlicensed items had the shirts confiscated. The Chicago man was allowed to keep his items, but all four were told to leave campus.
Any shirt containing a copyrighted MSU logo, such as a helmet, the cartoon face of Sparty, or the arched "State" logo, must be approved in writing by University Licensing Programs.
"Registered student organizations can fund raise with T-shirts on campus just by getting a waiver," Livermore said. "When somebody is selling on campus, they're asked to show their permit."
Most local screenprinting shops won't print licensed merchandise or accept MSU jobs without a university waiver or purchasing order.
"We've turned away people with official MSU stuff," graphic artist Phil DeWitt of D & M Silkscreening & Embroidery, 4202 Charlar Drive in Holt said. "It works that way with pretty much anything that's copyrighted."
For information on licensed MSU products, visit licensing.msu.edu.
