Remember how Universal really encouraged the fans of "Serenity" to get out there and help them promote the film? Remember how Universal colossally fucked up what should have been a home run (look, it's no classic but it's one of the best sci-fi action flicks in a good long while) by putting the release date in mid-September instead of against weak competition in August and counting almost ENTIRELY on viral marketing, to the degree where they didn't even cite reviews but rather fan enthusiasm in the print ads?
Well, the honeymoon is decidedly over; Universal is suing all those shops marketing T-shirts saying "Blue Sun" and the like, in some cases nailing them for $9000 in "retroactive licensing."
This isn't unprecedented; Paramount is noted for suing fans making homemade Star Trek props and selling them at conventions, and even contacting the police and sending them into cons to arrest anyone selling these as "pirate" merchandise, as if Paramount was going to license a Captain Pike wheelchair or a TOS computer console prop. That doesn't make it any less obnoxious. In a humorous note, the fans are responding by billing Universal for the time they put in promoting the movie, which is so far up to about $1.5 million and should get the point across quite nicely.
Hopefully Joss Whedon will have something to say about all this; I doubt he's happy about it, either way.