of putting my anti-Bush designs on t-shirts. Over the course of a few months, I checked out everything from website fees and t-shirt printing costs to copyright laws and first amendment rights.
I learned that a basic web storefront, which I planned on designing myself, would cost me about $50 a month, while the cost of printing shirts could vary from $5 to $15 per shirt depending on how many I would order at a time. Some Internet research helped me confirm that the first amendment protects my right to criticize the U.S. president and his supporting cast. From what I read of copyright law on sites like www.copyright.gov, I realized that I would not be able to simply alter photographs of Bush and re-distribute them; instead, I would need to create my own illustrations of Bush from scratch. This was a setback, but not a deal-breaker, as I had some experience with computer-assisted illustration and knew I could produce what I would need.
The last leg of my research focused on the basic steps involved in starting a small business. With the help of a great book - Nolo's Small Business Start-Up Kit for California - I figured out how to register with the city, county, state, and federal governments, and how to pick a proper name for my company as well.
