Logo use, Copyrighted and or Trademarked

[TammieH]

After seeing this subject pop up now and again, I did a search and found this blog on Plagiarism Today website


My thought most corporations do not mind use of their logos as long as you are not misrepresenting yourself as an
authorized seller, mass producing logos without permission. Basically as in the Motocross bike question. Most
businesses want their name out there as much as possible i.e. logos plastered all over race equipment.

As long as you are not defaming the corporation, most do not care.

http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2010/08/12/trademark-copyright-and-logos/

Of course that is my own uneducated opinion, so if you are slapped with a law suit, don't tell them that "Tammie said..."

 

[WildWestDesigns]

After seeing this subject pop up now and again, I did a search and found this blog on Plagiarism Today website


My thought most corporations do not mind use of their logos as long as you are not misrepresenting yourself as an
authorized seller, mass producing logos without permission. Basically as in the Motocross bike question. Most
businesses want their name out there as much as possible i.e. logos plastered all over race equipment.

As long as you are not defaming the corporation, most do not care.

http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2010/08/12/trademark-copyright-and-logos/

Of course that is my own uneducated opinion, so if you are slapped with a law suit, don't tell them that "Tammie said..."

The problem with that is that most of your customers are going to think that, rather or not you openly say so.

I had a woman on my FB page ask if I had Mickey Mouse pattern for sale. I'm sure Disney would want their name and characters out there, but I don't think that they would want me to do it.

 

[TresL]

Wonder how do the Tattoo guys away with so much with no issues?

 

[TammieH]

And then, there are entities like the NFL that strictly control, team logos, stadium images and anything else that falls under the NFL's almighty rule. But they do it because the do not want anyone making a buck without them getting their share. Like back in the 80's the Cincy Bengals fans who started promoting the "Jungle" until the NFL stepped in and put a stop to it, because a company was selling signs and memorabilia with nothing but the image of then Riverfront stadium and "Welcome to the Jungle".

 

[WildWestDesigns]

But they do it because the do not want anyone making a buck without them getting their share. Like back in the 80's the Cincy Bengals fans who started promoting the "Jungle" until the NFL stepped in and put a stop to it, because a company was selling signs and memorabilia with nothing but the image of then Riverfront stadium and "Welcome to the Jungle".

That's the whole point of this protection. Font creators use it for their fonts, stock clip art people (or stock embroidery designs in my case) use it the same way as well.

You also have to think about all the money that they pour into those logos as well. A lot of ad dollars goes into them.

There was an incident like the Bengals one that happened with the Saints as well with their "Who Dat" slogan.

Wonder how do the Tattoo guys away with so much with no issues?

Probably comes down to numbers. I would be willing to bet those same companies that don't go after tattoo places, will go after the ones that do the vehicle stickers, shirts, hats etc. Not everyone will get a tattoo, but you have far more people that will do the swag like shirts and hats (incidentally the same swag that those same companies might also sell as well, even HD doesn't have a tattoo parlor in their dealerships, but I can promise you they sell shirts and hats).

 

[GAC05]

I think you might be a little off base on large corporations not caring about logo use.
I am in the middle of a branding compliance audit for an Asia/Pacific fuel company that is licensed to use an international brand standard at their retail stores.
To say it has been intense would be an understatement. I just spent 10 days on a very small island (smaller than Guam...) working to bring their stores up to standard.
An inspection team will be flying in from London to see how we did later this month.
In my (limited) experience large companies are very restrictive on how their brand is presented to the public. They've got rules on everything from authorized inks & materials down to the spacing between individual letters in a single word.
Someone cranking out stuff with logos lifted off "brands of the world" is not going to cut it with them.

wayne k
guam usa

 

[WildWestDesigns]

In my (limited) experience large companies are very restrictive on how their brand is presented to the public. They've got rules on everything from authorized inks & materials down to the spacing between individual letters in a single word.
Someone cranking out stuff with logos lifted off "brands of the world" is not going to cut it with them.

This is very true. I did some digitizing for a local franchise and they were very specific that even my thread stitch chart had to have the correct pantone matching thread color. That's a pdf stitch chart that only the embroiderer will see. That's pretty extreme, I think anyway.

 

[TresL]

I seen lots of cool ink laid down in MC shops over the years.

 

[SKADSIGNS]

We used to race Junior Dragsters. Im talking kids ages 8 to 18 who love to dress their cars up with favorite characters and stuff going to local events and maybe a national event once or twice a year.

A girl named Megan wanted to use the Monster energy drink M as her first letter. Doing the right thing dad called Monster and asked hey do you mind if my 11 yo girl uses the Monster M on her race car for her first name? Monster rep played it cool with oh how nice, thats awsome, where do you guys race,live, etc.? After he got the information he changed his tune and said absolutely not are you to use Monster's M on anything and if you do we will have our law office contact you.

Also heard a local sign guy used the backwards R from Toys R Us in a job. Nothing else looked like their logo except the backwards R. He and the company received a letter from them telling them to remove it immeditely or else legal action would be taken.

 

[TyrantDesigner]

We used to race Junior Dragsters. Im talking kids ages 8 to 18 who love to dress their cars up with favorite characters and stuff going to local events and maybe a national event once or twice a year.

A girl named Megan wanted to use the Monster energy drink M as her first letter. Doing the right thing dad called Monster and asked hey do you mind if my 11 yo girl uses the Monster M on her race car for her first name? Monster rep played it cool with oh how nice, thats awsome, where do you guys race,live, etc.? After he got the information he changed his tune and said absolutely not are you to use Monster's M on anything and if you do we will have our law office contact you.

See, that is where the dad did it wrong ... should have been seeking a 'sponsor' and would put the monster M prominently on their kids vehicle.

 

[ThinkRight]

Major corporations will sue you out of business in a heat beat to protect their image or name .
They have all the resources and the law on their side .
That being said , if you or anyone copies or uses an image or logo for personal use ,not to give away or sell , they will probably not do anything about it if they found out.
Coke , Apple , Monster (drinks) , NFL and a couple of others will not play nice , you will never win .

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Coke , Apple , Monster (drinks) , NFL and a couple of others will not play nice , you will never win .

With regard to Coke, they also spend quite a bit of money to make sure that they don't end up like Xerox or Kleenex with regard to how their name is used. So I say they take everything about themselves very seriously.

 

[binki]

Wonder how do the Tattoo guys away with so much with no issues?

There is some case law that protects expression of affinity to a brand. This tends to be around jewlery, which can be considered artwork, but I could see this working with body art as well.

As far as a company wanting their image out there? No way. Here is the rub. If you print unauthorized material then you are diluting and bastardizing the brand. If they fail to either license you or stop you then they risk losing their brand. This can even happen if you are licensed and produce products not authorized or that are not to the standards set forth in your agreement.

 

[Pat Whatley]

Major corporations will sue you out of business in a heat beat to protect their image or name .

Can you cite any examples of someone cutting logos for a dirt bike getting sued? I know it's illegal but is it actually ever enforced on small scale production stuff like that?

The only time I've ever heard of it happening was a flea market where a lawyer had the guy cut some HD logos for him then promptly had the Sheriff's Department shut the guy down. That was 15 years ago.

The last time I tried to get permission to cut logos for a race trailer (8 years ago and really bored) half the companies I talked to couldn't figure out why I was calling, the other half emailed me artwork, one offered to send the decals for free. None of them had any issues at all with a racer, who was using their products, bragging about using them. Again, I know somebody is going to cite an example of where a serial killer had bootleg Red Bull decal on his race car but try to stay realistic here.

 

[Locals Find!]

With regard to Coke, they also spend quite a bit of money to make sure that they don't end up like Xerox or Kleenex with regard to how their name is used. So I say they take everything about themselves very seriously.

Coke hardly ever enforces anything as long as its done tastefully. I know I have seen all sorts of knock off old coke replicas everywhere. I have never once seen a guy get busted. I collect a lot of coke branded items. They are very nice about it. Just ask them and you can easily get licensed to produce stuff with their logo. Especially antique styled signage.

Hit any big lots and trust me your going to find some really lousy coke logos painted onto some really badly made wooden crates.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Coke hardly ever enforces anything as long as its done tastefully. I know I have seen all sorts of knock off old coke replicas everywhere. I have never once seen a guy get busted. I collect a lot of coke branded items. They are very nice about it. Just ask them and you can easily get licensed to produce stuff with their logo. Especially antique styled signage.

Hit any big lots and trust me your going to find some really lousy coke logos painted onto some really badly made wooden crates.

I wasn't talking about that.

I was talking about how far they go to make sure that Coke doesn't fall under generic term uses. For instance, when I'm talking about tissue paper, I just say Kleenex rather or not it's the Kleenex brand. Same with Xerox. Those names have become so generic that they no longer had the identity of a specific brand but that of a group of brands. That's what I was talking about.

That goes hand in hand with these bigger companies trying to protect what they have. If they don't, they lose that and all the money that went into making that brand name known.

 

[Locals Find!]

I wasn't talking about that.

I was talking about how far they go to make sure that Coke doesn't fall under generic term uses. For instance, when I'm talking about tissue paper, I just say Kleenex rather or not it's the Kleenex brand. Same with Xerox. Those names have become so generic that they no longer had the identity of a specific brand but that of a group of brands. That's what I was talking about.

That goes hand in hand with these bigger companies trying to protect what they have. If they don't, they lose that and all the money that went into making that brand name known.

I always believed that if you can reach a level of branding where your name becomes common in everyday language you have reached the pinnacle of branding. When your branding has done so well that every man, woman and child the world over recognizes your name and uses it in common speech you have succeeded where others have failed.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

I always believed that if you can reach a level of branding where your name becomes common in everyday language you have reached the pinnacle of branding. When your branding has done so well that every man, woman and child the world over recognizes your name and uses it in common speech you have succeeded where others have failed.

Yes and no.

The no part comes in in that when it's used such as it is in everyday speech, that means that (in this case) Coke is being used to even reference the "inferior" products. So not only is that name talking about the "better brand" of Coke, but it also includes Pepsi, which is something that Coke doesn't want. Especially considering they spend every so often fighting that perception and argue that there is a significant difference between their products and other products.

Now this does happen in some geographic regions anyway rather Coke wants it to or not. Everything that is a soft drink is a Coke regardless of the brand (so they kinda failed here), but you go up North to some places and I believe the term is either "pop" or "soda pop". Something like that.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Can you cite any examples of someone cutting logos for a dirt bike getting sued? I know it's illegal but is it actually ever enforced on small scale production stuff like that?

K&N can be pretty vicious with this type of stuff. I don't know if their filters are involved in the Dirt Bike world or not, I only know them from their truck filters.

Last I heard they had a lawsuit filed back in 2011. I don't know the specifics though. The listing is either for patent or copyright infringement, but not much on the details other then that.

 

[Pat Whatley]

Got a source or is this another one of those "HD sues people every day" kind of stories?