A Wisconsin hip-hop group called The Crest plans to take legal action against makers of shirts that say \WisCompton"" for stealing their trademarked logo.
Members of The Crest have been selling the shirts, which refers to a ghetto in southern Los Angeles, before football games this year.
They said they spotted a different ""WisCompton"" shirt while selling their shirts before Saturday's football game against Ohio State University.
""We just found out on Saturday that they took our idea and it definitely didn't make us very happy,"" said The Crest member and UW-Madison junior Adam Pelletter. ""It's like, here's your idea that we paid $350 to copyright and somebody else just has it on their T-shirts.""
Adam Pelletter said the person wearing the untrademarked shirt said it came from Steve and Barry's, 636 State St. However, when another member of The Crest inquired about the shirt at the store Tuesday, an employee told them they do not carry it.
Employees at several stores on State Street selling UW-Madison apparel said they do not sell the shirts and would not be allowed to because ""WisCompton"" is trademarked.
Despite not knowing the distributors of the illegally printed shirts, members of The Crest have not been deterred from looking into legalities.
""We did talk to a lawyer and basically what we could do is find out who is actually making the shirts and send them a letter and if they continue to do things, then we can take up a case,"" Adam Pelletter said.
To win a lawsuit, the group would have to prove the illegal T-shirt makers caused damages to their business. This entails proving the other vendors made money from the shirts.
Only a few retail locations, including Knuckleheads, 550 State St., and Trim Records, 212 W. Gorham, sell The Crest's trademarked version of the shirt.
The shirts have received considerable attention since The Crest began selling them while on tour with the Vans Warped Tour in August, according to Josh Pelletter, another member of The Crest.
""We've reordered them three or four times now,"" Adam Pelletter said.
However some have voiced opposition to the shirt's content.
""Some people really don't like them ... I think it pushes some buttons sometimes,"" Josh Pelletter said.
