Can You Sell MotoGP Merchandise on Etsy? Trademark and Licensing Rules for 2026

MotoGP has always had a passionate fanbase, but it used to fly under the radar in the United States. That era is over. Liberty Media — the same owner that turned Formula 1 into a US merchandising juggernaut — completed its €4.2 billion acquisition of MotoGP's commercial rights holder Dorna Sports on July 3, 2025. The 2026 Grand Prix of the Americas at COTA was the first US round run with Liberty's hands on the tiller, and the company has told investors it wants to grow US-related revenue from roughly $120 million to $400 million by 2027.

For Etsy sellers, that means two things. Demand for MotoGP-themed products is climbing fast — and so is enforcement. Dorna was already filing federal counterfeiting lawsuits against marketplace sellers before the takeover. Under an owner that treats merchandising as a core revenue line, expect the screws to tighten the way they did with F1.

Here's exactly which rights you'd be touching, what the lawsuits look like, and what you can sell instead.

Who Actually Owns MotoGP's IP?

Like Formula 1 and NASCAR, a single MotoGP-themed product can collide with three or four separate rights holders at once:

1. The series itself. Dorna Sports, S.L. — rebranded under Liberty as the MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group ahead of the 2026 season — owns a portfolio of US trademark registrations including the MOTOGP word and design marks (US Reg. No. 3,508,867), MOTOGP KIDS, MOTO2, and MOTOE, covering apparel, toys, accessories, and more. "MotoGP" on a t-shirt, sticker, or mug is a registered-mark use, full stop.

2. The teams and manufacturers. Ducati, Yamaha, Honda, Aprilia, and KTM each own their own trademarks and distinctive racing liveries. Team names like Gresini Racing and VR46 Racing Team are protected too. A print of a Desmosedici in factory red trades on Ducati's rights even if the word "Ducati" never appears.

3. The riders. Rider personal brands are serious businesses. Valentino Rossi's VR46 is a registered worldwide trademark with its own apparel empire — the number 46, the "The Doctor" nickname, and the sun-and-moon imagery are all protected and actively licensed. Marc Márquez's MM93, and the number-plus-initials format generally, work the same way. On top of trademarks, riders have a right of publicity in their name, likeness, and signature — the same right that drives the NIL rules for college athletes.

4. The sponsors. Red Bull's title sponsorship of the US GP, energy-drink logos on leathers, and oil-brand liveries are all separately owned marks. Reproducing a full livery reproduces every sponsor logo on it.

The math is brutal: a "Márquez COTA 2026" print can infringe Dorna's MOTOGP marks, Ducati's livery and logos, Márquez's MM93 trademark and right of publicity, and two or three sponsor marks — on one listing.

Dorna Is Already Suing Marketplace Sellers

This isn't theoretical. Dorna has filed a string of Schedule A counterfeiting lawsuits in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois — the same courthouse and the same playbook used by Disney, Hasbro, and Spin Master. Recent dockets include case numbers 1:24-cv-05114, 1:24-cv-08273, 1:24-cv-11676, and 1:25-cv-09740, each targeting dozens or hundreds of anonymous online sellers at once.

If you've read our other posts, you know how Schedule A works: the rights holder files under seal against "the Individuals, Corporations, Limited Liability Companies, Partnerships, and Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule A," gets a temporary restraining order before sellers ever know they've been sued, and freezes marketplace and payment accounts — Etsy, PayPal, Stripe — while the case proceeds. Most sellers first learn about it when their funds disappear.

The Case Dorna Lost — and Why You Still Shouldn't Relax

Here's the twist that makes MotoGP unusual. In case 1:24-cv-11676, Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman entered default against seven sellers who never showed up — and then denied Dorna's motion for default judgment in 2025. The court found Dorna's complaint relied on conclusory allegations of consumer confusion: it never identified its own genuine products or explained how buyers would actually be deceived. The court ordered the frozen assets released.

That's a rare, genuine loss for a Schedule A plaintiff, and trademark lawyers took notice. But before you treat it as a green light, look at what it cost the defendants: their accounts were frozen for months while the case ground forward, and they "won" only because they defaulted into a judge who scrutinized the pleadings. Dorna's response was not to stop — it filed 1:25-cv-09740 afterward. Under Liberty Media's ownership, with F1's enforcement machine as the template, the pleadings will get tighter, not the enforcement softer.

Frozen first, questions later: even when a Schedule A case fails, the asset freeze happens at the start. A flawed lawsuit can still lock up your holiday-season revenue for half a year.

The Myths That Get MotoGP Sellers Suspended

"It's handmade, so it's different." Etsy's handmade policy is about how an item is made, not whose IP is on it. A hand-embroidered 46 patch infringes exactly like a mass-produced one. There is no handmade exception in trademark law.

"It's fan art." Fan art sold for money is commercial use. Artistic skill doesn't transform someone else's trademark or livery into your property — it usually makes the listing a better exhibit.

"I wrote 'inspired by' / 'unofficial' in the listing." Disclaimers don't cure infringement; they document that you knew whose brand you were trading on. Tags like "MotoGP inspired" are also exactly what enforcement bots search for.

"It's just a number." Numbers can absolutely function as trademarks when they identify a specific source — 46 in racing context is VR46's whole business. A plain numeral on a plain shirt may be fine; a 46 in Rossi's yellow with sun-and-moon styling is not.

"It's a digital file, not a product." Digital downloads infringe the same as physical goods, and they're easier for bots to detect because the preview image is the product.

What You Can Sell

The fix is the same as our F1 and NASCAR guidance: sell the vibe, not the brand.

• Generic motorcycle racing art. Knee-down cornering silhouettes, leathers and helmets of your own design, in color schemes that aren't a recognizable team livery.
• The occasion, not the franchise. "Race Day at Austin" or "Texas motorcycle weekend" themes with your own original artwork — no series logos, no rider numbers, no team names.
• Moto culture broadly. Café racer, track-day, twisty-road, and "ride fast, take chances" designs are yours to make as long as the artwork is original.
• Personalization on blanks. Custom name-and-number gear for amateur racers and trackday riders — where the customer's own identity, not a famous rider's, is the design.
• Public-domain motorcycle history. Vintage board-track racing imagery from the early 1900s is old enough to be safe — verify each source image's status first.

Before listing anything, run the name through a proper trademark search. MOTOGP, VR46, and the team names are all registered in the apparel classes Etsy sellers live in.

What's Actually at Stake

The penalty stack in these cases is what makes them shop-enders rather than slaps on the wrist. Counterfeiting a registered trademark carries statutory damages of up to $2,000,000 per mark per type of goods when the infringement is willful — and Schedule A complaints always plead willfulness. If the design also copies protected artwork (a rider's logo, a team's graphic), copyright statutory damages add up to $150,000 per work on top. Courts in the Northern District of Illinois routinely award six-figure default judgments against absent marketplace sellers, payable from whatever was sitting in the frozen accounts.

And the platform consequences arrive long before any judgment. Etsy's repeat-infringer policy means a couple of takedowns can close a shop permanently, with funds held and your customer base gone. Rights holders don't have to win in court to end your business — the TRO and the strikes do most of the damage on day one.

If You're Already Selling MotoGP Items

Do a cleanup pass this week, not after a takedown:

1. Search your shop for "MotoGP," "Moto GP," rider names, rider numbers in racing styling, team names, and livery references — in titles, tags, descriptions, and the designs themselves.
2. Deactivate anything that uses a registered mark or a recognizable rider/team identity. Deactivated listings can still be cited, but they stop accumulating new exposure.
3. Check whether you've already received a trademark violation notice — repeat strikes are what turn takedowns into suspensions.
4. Watch your payment processor. If PayPal or Etsy Payments suddenly freezes funds with a vague reference to a court order, you may already be a Schedule A defendant — get IP counsel immediately, because deadlines run fast.

The Bottom Line

MotoGP is about to get the full Liberty Media treatment in the United States: more races, more fans, more official merchandise — and F1-grade enforcement to protect it. Dorna was suing Etsy and marketplace sellers even before the takeover, and the one case it fumbled still left sellers frozen for months. The smart play is the same as ever: original racing-culture designs that capture the speed without borrowing anyone's marks.

ShieldMyShop scans your listings against registered trademarks and flags risky titles, tags, and designs before rights holders find them. Start a free trial and know where your shop stands before the next race weekend.