Religious-themed knockoffs proliferate

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.

Christian stores have just the Christmas gift for Facebook fans: A “Jesus Christ wants to be your friend” T-shirt that mimics the design of the popular social networking site.

Do you like shirts from teen retailer Abercrombie & Fitch? How about a Christian copycat that transforms the chain’s name to “Abreadcrumb & Fish,” a reference to the biblical story of Jesus miraculously feeding the multitudes with bread and a few fish?

American retailers sell about $4.6 billion worth of Christian products annually, and some are spoofs or spinoffs of commercial logos or brand names. Many such goods are illegal, trademark attorneys say, but companies often are unaware their names are being copied or don’t put up a fight for fear of being labeled anti-religion.

There are “iPray” hats to wear while listening to your iPod, and the logo for the popular “Rock Band” video game was tweaked for a Christian necklace with a pendant shaped like a guitar pick. Preachers are even in on the act: They can buy materials for sermons based on popular TV shows including “Lost” and “Survivor.”

Imitators include Christian versions of the Subway restaurant logo, the “got milk?” advertising campaign, and the “intel inside” sticker that’s on millions of computers. The “HOPE” poster from Barack Obama’s presidential campaign - which itself was the subject of a copyright fight between an artist and the Associated Press over the use of an Obama photo - was Christianized, with an image of Jesus replacing the president.

Church marketing consultant Brad Abare has seen tons of such stuff and doesn’t like it. He’s even come up with a name for some of it: “Jesus junk.”

“We think it’s just dumb. It’s not a true reflection of creativity,” said Mr. Abare, of the nonprofit Center for Church Communication in Los Angeles.

Trademark lawyer Michael G. Atkins of Seattle said legal parodies of commercial trademarks are protected under the First Amendment, but such religious products generally don’t fall into that category.

“You could take Microsoft and change their logo around to make fun of Microsoft, and that would be legal,” he said. “But I can’t use the Microsoft logo to promote my Christian theme because there’s no real connection there. That’s illegal.”

Marjorie Koval of the Association for Christian Retail said it’s hard to say how much of the Christian merchandise market is made up of parody items. The gift and specialty sector, which includes apparel, comprises about one-third of the industry’s total sales, she said.

It’s also impossible to say how many manufacturers produce such merchandise. Anyone with a screen printing machine and a computer can make a T-shirt design. Mr. Atkins said that’s one reason companies have such a hard time policing their brands.

But there are a few major players in the Christian merchandise industry.

Based in Berryville, Ark., Kerusso sells Christian-themed items including T-shirts, dolls and jewelry, and it asks customers to report anyone who rips off their designs, many of which are original. Its products are available in more than 7,000 stores nationwide.

Yet some of Kerusso’s popular products are copycats of corporate brands and logos known worldwide.

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