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Include defamatory statements
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Uses profanity or expresses hatred, anger, or harsh criticism regarding public figures
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Depicts people as animals (particularly in a way that dehumanizes or encourages violence)
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Include crass vulgarity, lewd language, or swear words
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Feature less-explicit sexual content or nudity, including images of an artistic/health/medical nature
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Have an overtly sexual connotation or tone, including strong sexual innuendo
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Include violent events, terms, or images, such as historical images of violence
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Promote, feature, or encourage illegal activity
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Defend an alleged criminal or criminal act
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Advocate for one party in a pending legal dispute
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Might cause public anger or harm
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Include other content that would be offensive to the Custom Ink community
GO – Merlin Graphics will print designs that:
SLOW – Merlin Graphics will scrutinize and may not print (or may require changes to) designs that:
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Violate the intellectual property rights of others (see intellectual property policy)
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Constitute libel or fraud or otherwise violate the law
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Encourage violence or abuse against groups or individuals—including through dehumanization—with potential violence exceptions for authorized US military activities
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Depict graphic violence, including self-harm, with potential exceptions for select historical images
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Constitute or include “hate speech,” i.e., abusive, threatening, or demeaning words, symbols, or images based on race, religion, ethnicity, gender, disability, national origin, or sexual orientation
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Encourage hatred or harassment of private individuals (as opposed to public figures), no matter the reason
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Threaten or encourage physical harassment of public figures or their families, or depict them in a discriminatory manner
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Promote, feature, or encourage the use of hard drugs
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Feature explicit sexual content or nudity of a non-artistic/health/medical nature
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Include sexually suggestive images or text involving children
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Encourage animal abuse or cruelty, as typically defined by law
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Promote, feature, or encourage underage drinking, smoking, or marijuana use
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Exhibit gross insensitivity to individuals or communities in grief or mourning
NO – Merlin Graphics will not print designs when we are reasonably confident that they:
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Use language and images appropriate for adults and children of all ages
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Create a sense of community and are not likely to offend individuals or groups
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Support intellectual property rights by using authorized images and content, including those owned or legally authorized to be used by the customer
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For Fundraising Campaigns, we must be highly confident that all aspects of the campaign follow our standards--including the contents of the design, as well as the title, description, and beneficiary fields.
Merlin Graphis’ Content Standards provide guidance for customers in designing custom products. Our Content Standards employ a sliding scale from “no” to “go” to accommodate the range of potential designs, allowing us to collaborate with customers to create a design that meets these standards. The descriptions under each category are not meant to be exhaustive, and the ultimate decision on whether or not to approve a design will always rest with the Merlin Graphics Content Standards team. Merlin Graphics regularly reviews these policies and updates them as appropriate.
Content Standards:
Merlin Graphics believes in the power of custom apparel and accessories to bring groups and communities together. We aim to assist our customers in creating products with designs that are both meaningful and unifying, while also acknowledging that our customers have diverse viewpoints and perspectives, which are reflected in the designs they create.
We use the following standards to balance our customers’ own goals and freedom of expression with the potential impact on others and the general public. We take our role as an expression platform seriously and strive to fulfill it responsibly.