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Advice on the use of a copyright logo please?
Have a customer who is a mobile valeter. He uses products from two different comapanies and wants their logos on his van.
I can put one logo on as I have contact with company but the other is Autoglym – should I get customer to contact company for permission?
Seems like a load of hassle for me to sort out for customer.
It’s a case of customer thinks vinyls take no time to create.
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4 Replies
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We’ve been getting this a lot lately. We’re asking the clients to email stating they have the permission to recreate or use the copyrighted logo’s etc.
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If you do a search you’ll find some quite lengthy discussions on copyright.
Jason is technically correct but, for what it’s worth, and right or wrong, this is my take on it……..
If you are whacking out Autoglym logos and flogging them at car boot sales, or on eBay, basically making a profit from selling their logo, then that is wrong.
Also, to copy one of their vans, so that your customer could pass himself off as an employee of Autoglym, is also wrong.
However, I don’t see a problem with putting a couple of the same logos onto the van of a genuine car valeter who uses Autoglym products and whose van is written in his own company name, so that the logo is obviously just to publicise the products he uses.
Of course every company takes copying their logos with different levels of seriousness, and I’d be more careful with stuff from the likes of Disney, but I’ve never had a problem yet.
Yesterday we printed a batch of Gas Safe logos for a customer because he wasn’t happy with the quality of the free issue ones he received from them. 😀
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I did a van for a customer who sold and serviced phone networks, he wanted to have a few telephone company logos on his van, they were only small and obviously they were there to inform people that he could do that particular make of network. After a month or so he got a call from BT legal department issuing an ultimatum that he photograph van as it was then remove BT logo then photograph again and send them to them or be prosecuted. I guess some companies are more protective than others, now I would do as Jason has said and get customer to give some reassurance that he has permission. BT never asked who did his van so I don’t know if it would come back on you.
Steve
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For something like this, I would just do it. I would hope a warning would be given (if at all) leaving an opportunity to simply remove the logo if neccessary with no further action being taken.
I have one customer who uses coca cola, fanta and sprite logos on all his printed menus which he had lifted from the ‘brands of the world’ website. His attitude is that he is promoting the product and purchasing the product so he is doing them only good by displaying their logo. He may be wrong to have that attitude but I would like to think that the companies involved would be ‘reserved’ in their response to ‘finding him out’.
Just for the record, I emailed brands of the world after the disclaimer started appearing on the site (before logo download), and was ‘told’ that they never supply the owner of the logo with details of who has downloaded copies. I believe them. And I keep my fingers crossed all day too.
I know this isn’t being discussed but a different matter all together if you, for example, start a company selling vehicle cleaning products and call yourself Auto Glam using the Auto Glym letter style and colours as a rip off of the Auto Glym logo. Tut tut.
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