Quote:
Originally Posted by Nathans_Dad
Quick question for the business or lawyerly types:
I decided to make a poster for my guitar teacher for his studio. I took a picture of my Fender Strat leaning up against my Vox amp and then put his logo on the bottom of the picture with a slogan I made up at the top. I did it in photoshop and then had it printed at Costco.
My question is, you can see the Fender logo on the headstock and the Vox logo on the amp. Is it copyright infringement to have these things visible in the photo?? I'm not terribly concerned because it will just be for his small studio but I just want to be sure in case he wants to use the image as a flyer or something.
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I don't think it is illegal. If you are not profiting from the poster then there is not much Fender or Vox can do. Use Porsche as an example. They love protecting their name, but there s no way that they can come after you or the photographer that takes a nice picture of you and you 911 and gives the print to you. At that point, their name is in public view.
I asked about this for my guitar project. I really infringed on Gibson's property rights, but I made the guitar solely for myself. I have no intention of ever selling the guitar (what happens after I'm dead really is not my concern.
Gibson could try and take me to court, but I doubt that the case would go anywhere. I'm not profiting in any way off their name.
Now, if the guy that you gave the poster to, decides to make fliers out of it, then he might get into trouble, unless Fender and Vox have given him the okay to use their names. I don't think you could, as you just gave it to him as a gift and he used it for other purposes without your knowledge.
I'm not a lawyer, but I did grow up with one.