Screen Threads: Can You Sell Movie T-Shirts Without Getting Sued?

This week on Tri Diligence: Screen Threads, a store for the exact tee a character wore on screen - browse by show or film, print-on-demand, drop-shipped, no inventory. The whole episode turns on one question: is this a company, or a cease-and-desist? Jake (the marketer) - the real wedge isn't the Marvel-logo crowd; it's the fan who says "wait, I want Carmy's shirt" - the plain, unbranded tee a character actually wears, which carries no trademark. That's the business hiding inside the lawsuit. Sarah (the backer) - recreating a studio's print is copyright and trademark infringement; the thin print-on-demand margins against the very real legal liability; and whether the only safe version of this is boring. Ryan (the technologist) - which designs are genuinely non-infringing, the AI angle (upload a screenshot, detect the garment, match the print - and the flip side, studios using AI to auto-issue takedowns), and whether you could flip the whole thing into a licensed, official partner instead of a pirate. Pressure-tested against the real landscape - Redbubble, TeePublic, and Etsy, flooded with fan art and constant DMCA takedowns. Each host ends with a verdict - invest, wait, or pass - and one concrete first step. Tri Diligence is an AI-produced analysis, made for entertainment and idea-exploration, not investment advice. Full analysis, transcript and the three verdicts: https://pods.purpur.se/tridiligence/ep7/