Copyright question

[Doug Pulver]

I just read a post where copyright was an issue. I don't want to infringe, so here are my situations and a question.

1. I have a client that wants me to duplicate some decals for an airplane he is restoring. This plane is a 1959 Cessna and he needs the decals that go on the vertical stabilizer. The client sent me a picture of the lettering he wants done and I tried to match the font by finding the closest thing to it and then modified it.

2. I have another client that wants me to cut decals for his business. he's been in business since 1967, has a logo and font style for the name of the business. His last sign person did the logos and name in vinyl but is not doing them anymore. I took photos of the items he wants duplicated and vectorized them. Now I'm ready to start production.

Do either of these two jobs have any cause for potential copyright infringement? Thanks.

 

[TheProfessor]

i'm not sure whether the Cessna decals would be considered infringement... its for a restoration and I'm fairly sure Cessna isnt going to have backstock for your customer to order from... I found a site on the interwebs that is selling airplane decals http://www.chiefaircraft.com/airsec/Aircraft/Decals/Logos.html (I have no idea if this is legit or not) but, since there probably isnt a huge market for 1959 Cessna decals, you probably wont get in trouble... although if you really wanted to be sure, you could email Cessna and ask...

as for the second situation, I would think that if the logo belongs to your client, no matter who has previously done the printing, the logo will always belong to your client and thus have no infringement...

this is all supposition, so anyone else feel free to contradict me

 

[Fred Weiss]

In the first case, a courtesy contact to Cessna should either yield a reply that they would or would not consider such a replication an infringement and might carry a secondary benefit of them being able to supply original artwork or decals.

In the second case I would play it on the reasonable side, which is to say that if your client claims he owns all rights to his "logo" and there is nothing out there obviously contradicting that, then it is reasonable for you to contract with him to create a production version of his artwork and produce finished work. If he's showing you something that looks like it was produced by another shop and there is anything more than text typed out, then you may want to at least investigate the truth of his claim that they are no longer producing work.

 

[Doug Pulver]

Thanks for the replies. I think I'll make the courtesy contact to Cessna, who knows it might payoff.

On the second one I was told that he does own the logo and the lettering design. I was also told that the previous sign person stopped coming around after his 4th DUI and his whereabouts were unknown. However there is a website that uses the logo and lettering. I'll have to make sure it's OK to use. These decals are going to be used to hand out to customers.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[Idea Design]

However it turns out, good for ya for asking.

 

[Doug Pulver]

Update, I called Cessna today and talked with someone who tried to identify the logo I need to reproduce. We couldn't find the exact one. I was told once I did I could call Corporate communications and inquire about a copyright release.

 

[TheProfessor]

awesome! sometimes being thorough prevails! plus cessna can probably give you the exact specs for the decal if they are gonna give you a copyright release...