How to ensure you’re supporting a legitimate cause on Orange Shirt Day

VANCOUVER (CityNews) — With Orange Shirt Day just around the corner, survivors say it’s important to ensure you are supporting legitimate groups when buying a shirt or making a donation.

This will be the first time Sept. 30 is officially recognized as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and many Canadians are trying to figure out how best to support the movement.

Eddy Charlie is a residential school survivor, and he and his friend Kristin Spray spend their time at different events selling sell shirts and raising funds for other survivors. They are part of ‘Orange Shirt Day Victoria.’

Charlie says seeing others republish different designs and turning a profit on them is incredibly disheartening.

“Since the discovery of 215 children found in Kamloops, the conversation surrounding residential schools is all that much more important. Yet, thousands upon thousands of people all across the world are stealing designs and benefitting from that. And they don’t have anything to do with residential schools,” he tells CityNews.

Ahead of #OrangeShirtDay, we're hearing from one group based out of #VictoriaBC — it's reminding people not to purchase shirts from places that are trying to make a quick buck. Eddy Charlie is a residential school survivor & he and Kristin Spay spend their time selling shirts.

— Ria Renouf ???? (@riarenouf) September 28, 2021

Spray says legitimate groups like theirs have been suffering from multiple issues, from a lack of supplies to an inability to keep up with demand. Sometimes it is emotionally draining as they try to keep up with the different requests.

“What we’ve noticed especially as we get close to September 30th — and also when we would get close to July 1st, when people wanted to wear orange shirts for Canada Day — is that there were a lot of places where you couldn’t find these shirts, and it became emotional in some ways. And we’ve experienced some emotional interactions. People who are frustrated who can’t find shirts in their size,” Spray says.

RELATED: B.C. residential school survivor calls for acknowledgment as Truth and Reconciliation Day approaches

When a design is used without permission, there is some protection, but it can be difficult to take a stolen design completely off the market particularly online at sites like Etsy, RedBubble, or eBay.

“The artwork, as soon as it’s created, is protected by copyright. Unlike a trademark, a copyright does not need to be registered at any intellectual property office; it exists as soon as the artist puts pen [to] paper, for instance. So certainly, if there are other entities who are utilizing other words or symbols of another trader, or the copyright images of the copyright holder, they could run afoul of infringement,” says Clint Lee, a partner at Nexus IP Law.

Lee says taking action on infringement can be tricky, and largely depends on the situation.

“If we’re dealing with fly-by-night operators, then it can be really difficult to get compliance. What they’ll do is simply shut down their listing or their page, and then move on to another platform. But it is worth it for the copyrighter or trademark holder to police their rights, and to prevent the infringing situation from happening, but it can be hard to get any sort of monetary compensation because [with these groups, their goal] is to pick up and leave, basically.”

Lee says he has, however, seen larger companies cooperating.

“It depends on what kind of defendant you’re dealing with,” he notes, saying that where the defendant is located is one thing that will affect the chance of success.

But it’s not just up to the seller to track down unscrupulous characters, buyers can and should do their research to determine where their money goes.

“I always say, ‘Stop. Think about where you want your money to go and start with that organization,'” advises Simone Lis with the Better Business Bureau.

Ultimately, if you’re unable to purchase a shirt, or if you’re still trying to figure out how to participate, Charlie wants to leave readers with this reminder, prompted by the story of a woman he met on the steps of the B.C. Legislature earlier this year where a memorial was set up after the discovery of unmarked graves in Kamloops.

“One of the shoes that this lady saw was a tiny pair of moccasins. No bigger than the index finger, and she said, ‘I lost it. I sat there and stared at these tiny little moccasins. I tried to imagine the tiny little child that was wearing those shoes when she was forced away from her home.’

Charlie says the woman was overcome by emotion, and apologized to him for everything he and others like him had gone through. He says the experience was important to him.

“This is everything that we’ve worked towards. To help find reconciliation on these islands. Even if you don’t have an orange shirt, the fact that that lady could carry that story with her and remember it. That is wearing an orange shirt in her heart, and in her spirit.”

Charlie says it’s also a good idea to find events in your neighbourhood that allow for the opportunity to listen to the stories of those who lived through the experiences of residential schools.

Editor’s Note: TSC, which is owned by Rogers, the parent company of CityNews, is one of a number of large companies selling orange shirts – but is identifying the artists, and donating the proceeds.