Back Issue tees are fan-made, unofficial merchandise. Unofficial means no studio, publisher or rights holder made, approved or backs them: Back Issue is not affiliated with, licensed or endorsed by any of them. Fan-made means the designs are illustrations of characters and works we like, drawn from reference art. Rights holders with a concern about a design can email support@backissueclub.com with “Rights” in the subject line, and we review every notice.
This page sets out what those words mean on this shop and how a rights holder reaches us, using the wording of the Rights & IP page and the about page. It applies to every design on the all issues shelf. It is a plain description of how the shop works, not legal advice.
What fan-made means here
The rights page puts it in one line: the designs are illustrations of characters and works we like, drawn from reference art. Every cover starts from reference art of the character, so the costume, the colours and the small details match the source.
That is the fan part: the characters on the shelf are ones we like, and each design is made from reference art of them. The designs are not artwork supplied by a studio or a publisher.
The product pages say the same. Under “The print”, each one carries a short note: fan-made and unofficial, not affiliated with, licensed or endorsed by any rights holder.
Official and unofficial merchandise
Official merchandise is made, or approved, by whoever owns the characters. Unofficial merchandise is not. The FAQ asks the question directly: is this official merchandise? No. Back Issue is fan-made, unofficial art.
The rights page names three separate things, and each means something different. Back Issue is not affiliated with any studio, publisher or rights holder: there is no connection between the shop and the owners of the characters. It is not licensed by them: no rights holder has given the shop permission through a licence. And it is not endorsed by them: none of them approves of, recommends or stands behind the tees.
All three are said plainly so that nobody buys a Back Issue tee thinking it is something else. The same sentence closes every page of this journal.
Why character names appear
A tee with a character on the back has to be described somehow. Character names, titles and marks belong to their owners and are used only to describe what a design shows.
That is why a design is called, say, The Shape — White Mask or Get Over Here — Scorpion. The name tells you who is on the print. It does not say who made the tee.
The shelves work the same way. A franchise shelf collects the designs that show that franchise's characters, so you can find them. The franchise name on the shelf is a label for what is on it.
How rights holders reach us
Rights holders with a concern about a design can email support@backissueclub.com with “Rights” in the subject line. We review every notice.
The rights page also says what helps: quote the issue number and cover of the design. Both are at the top of the product page, and the number is also in the badge on the chest. Every design is an issue, and every issue gets a number, so the number is the quickest way for us to find exactly which design a notice is about, even when several covers show the same character.
The shop's own content
The rights page runs both ways. The site’s photographs, text, layout and code belong to Back Issue or its licensors. Do not copy or resell them without written permission.
That covers the product photographs, the descriptions, the size guide and pages like this one. It does not change anything above: the characters on the tees still belong to their owners.
Where the wording comes from
The rights page says where its wording comes from: sections 3 and 7 of the terms of service, word for word. It also says that the terms govern if anything there reads differently.
This page only puts that wording into plainer terms. Where the two ever read differently, go by the rights page and the terms of service, not this page.
What it means when you buy
You are buying a fan-made tee: a design drawn from reference art, printed after you order it on the same vintage-wash tee as every other issue, with the same returns and shipping rules. You are not buying merchandise from the studio, publisher or rights holder behind the character.
If that is what you want, pick a design from the full rack and check the size guide first. If you have a question about any of this, the Rights & IP page is the place to start.
Read next: issues, covers, runs and editions explained, and 270 gsm, 32s cotton, vintage wash: what the tee is.
Back Issue is fan-made, unofficial merchandise. We are not affiliated with, licensed or endorsed by any studio, publisher or rights holder. Character names, titles and marks belong to their owners and are used only to describe what a design shows. Rights & IP