The folks behind that controversial "Save Mary-Kate" gear could use some saving of their own right about now--from the Olsens and their high-powered legal team, who literally want the shirts off the designers' backs.

Randy Bol and Melissa Moss, founders of the fledgling fashion company responsible for the Mary-Kate-inspired T-shirts, have stopped selling the cult-hit clothing line after receiving an email threat from lawyer Gregory Redlitz, who represents the wonder twins and their empire, Dualstar.

Redlitz requested Bol and Moss to stop hawking the shirts or else face a potentially crushing lawsuit for unauthorized use of the Mary-Kate and Ashley brand.

"If you wish to avoid civil action against you, we hereby demand that you: (1) Immediately agree to cease and desist all other unauthorized uses of the names and likenesses of Mary-Kate Olsen or Ashley Olsen in any manner; and (2) cease all unauthorized uses of any trademarks associated with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen or their company Dualstar Entertainment, LLC," Redlitz wrote. (The full text of the letter was first published Wednesday at the Smoking Gun.)

Moss was at first skeptical of its authenticity and asked for a hard copy. Still, within 20 minutes after Bol and Moss received the news, they removed the shirts from their Website, SaveMaryKate.blogspot.com.

"We respect Dualstar. They're a huge company. We're a small company," says Moss, who was apparently unwilling to roll the dice and go to court over the shirts, which could be argued are simply a (legally protected) form of parody.

The company, named Randy and Moss, started selling the "Save Mary-Kate" shirts soon after the 18-year-old entered rehab for an eating disorder in late June. The tee, displaying a fully ribbed picture of Mary-Kate sketched by Bol, soon gained nationwide publicity...and engendered some hard feelings.

The National Eating Disorders Association rejected a donation from Randy and Moss, condemning the designers for "sensationalizing" eating disorders. Randy and Moss had planned to donate 20 percent of profits to NEDA and never found another taker.

"But we sponsored a friend for the AIDS marathon," says Moss.

Amid the hoopla, sales increased. Moss said more than 600 shirts were sold, and retail stores were ready to get in on the action. Those details, however, didn't matter to Dualstar.

"Whether it sold or not was irrelevant," says Michael Pagnotta, the Olsens' rep.

Pagnotta was made aware of the shirt about a month ago and advised Dualstar to look into copyright infringement.

"It would be no different if it was a can of soup," he says.

After Pagnotta's initial public reaction to the shirts, Bol and Moss had expected to hear from Dualstar. But they were surprised by how long it took. Pagnotta provides no explanation for the delay.

"We deal with these things as they come," he says.

Official Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen-branded merchandise, including everything from videos to their own Wal-Mart clothing line to toothpaste, is valued around $1 billion. And Dualstar fiercely protects its money machine.

"We take a stern view of people who infringe on the brand," says Redlitz.

And besides, the image was unbecoming, but purposely so, as Moss has pointed out, emphasizing the "ugliness" of anorexia.

"The company thought it was offensive," Pagnotta says of the "Save Mary-Kate" tees, which are certain to become instant eBay classics.

Pagnotta insists that Mary-Kate and Ashley have much more important issues to deal with than what he called a "random T-shirt." And they do. They have their own T-shirts to create. An eight-person design team will reportedly move east to be with the twins while they attend NYU.