Copyright ?

[PensacolaJim]

A woman called me and ask me to put a state university loco on her purse.

It's her purse so all I would have to to is carve a simple loco for her.

Should I back out?

[Luke Hatley]

Go for it.make her happy.

It's not like you are going to manufacture them by the thousands.........I M H O .

[BearMan]

Hi,

Jim, Just call the University, & ask them for permission to use thier LOGO. Tell them what you are wanting to do,let them know it's a "one off" ,,,, get the name of the person giving the permission. If they don't give permission,, I'd be hessitant to do it.

Many years ago, while working in a saddle shop, I always would tool in a hidden design, that the customers wanted to use as something to help identify the saddle in case it was ever stollen. We had a customer that wanted a little "Dumbo" elephant as his ID. We had never really thought about a copyright infringement, since it wasn't part of the main design,,, & that it was hidden from normal view. Well,,, guess what??? Disney contacted us, & informed us, that if we wanted to keep from being sued, we had to buy back & destroy the saddle, or remove the copyrighted piece & send it to them as proof of removal. After about a years worth of use,,, removing & them trying to match the color of the removed piece was very difficult. Luckily,,, the customer was very understanding. Sooo,,, You do need to be VERY wary of using a copyrighted logo, design, or anything else somebody has copyrighted.

Ed the"BearMan"

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

I feel the same way. Make it.

Some companies like Disney, and Harley-Davidson get real uppity about their logos / designs being used without permission -$$$$. Some colleges may be the same if they have a big following. It is all about $$$$$. I know an artist who does not worry about people using his images. The way he looks at it, it is free advertising, and he has gotten work by people seeing his art that has been use by folks on Facebook etc.

BearMan, I am curious as to how Disney corporate came to know about your use of Dumbo on a saddle.

[BearMan]

Hi,

I believe the way Disney found out about the "Dumbo" logo on the saddle was from an interview, the customer did in a cutting horse magazine, where he called the saddle his "Dumbo" saddle. Disney, along with LOTS of other companies, constantly do searches for references about,,, or to their copyrighted materials. Plus, the saddle shop I worked for,,, & the customer,,, were less than 200 miles from Disney,,, so that was a factor also.

I just feel, that why put all the time & money into making something that could wind up costing you a lot more than what you'd make from making & selling something that is illegal. If the customer really insists on using a copyrighted logo,,, why not ask them to get written permission from the owner of the logo, to protect BOTH of you? But,,, you might want to check,,, there are lots of places that have logo's that aren't copyrighted. It's best just to call them & see, there's better than a 50% chance, they'd say no problem.

[TexasJack]

The "little guys" appear to get crushed by corporate giants over silly copyrights. But that's not really the case. If a company allows someone else to use a logo - like "Dumbo" - then they can lose the copyright to that name. When that happens, a competitor can produce the same thing and they can't stop them. (Think of say China flooding the market with Disney stuff without paying a royalty.) So, yeah, it's a pain, but you can't blame them for trying to protect their income.

I found this out innocently enough. I was traveling to some plants owned by the company I worked for and at one in Louisiana, and a guy working there made ball caps with the company logo on it but the "-CO" in the name was replaced by "-CEAUX". He made them in several colors and he gave me one. I wore it to a company picnic and the CEO happened to attend and saw the hat. He wanted one, so I gave him the guy's name and the guy sent him a hat. The CEO proudly displayed it in his office - until a corporate attorney saw it and came unglued. Because the CEO was involved, the maker was just required to cease making them. That's when the whole "could lose our copyright" thing was explained to me. (Even using different colors causes a problem.) If the attorney had seen the cap in MY office first, it might not have been such an easy situation for me or the maker.

Edited October 17, 2010 by TexasJack

[TwinOaks]

Copyright issues have been discussed in depth Here.

To be on the safe side, get a 'permission slip' on school letterhead for your 'one off' item. If there is an interest in the item, or a sudden market for them, offer the school a royalty on realized sales for a limited license agreement ( 5% sound good?). You shouldn't be out any money up front, it keeps you legal, and you might even get orders from the school itself.

Sure, you could make it, but will the one purse pay you enough to cover attorney's fees if you do have to go to court? If the school says 'No', then you have to explain to the customer that you can't ethically take the school's logo without permission.

[PensacolaJim]

Copyright issues have been discussed in depth Here.

To be on the safe side, get a 'permission slip' on school letterhead for your 'one off' item. If there is an interest in the item, or a sudden market for them, offer the school a royalty on realized sales for a limited license agreement ( 5% sound good?). You shouldn't be out any money up front, it keeps you legal, and you might even get orders from the school itself.

Sure, you could make it, but will the one purse pay you enough to cover attorney's fees if you do have to go to court? If the school says 'No', then you have to explain to the customer that you can't ethically take the school's logo without permission.

I sent a Email to the Dean, lol.

I will see if he replies.

Thanks for the responce.

Jim