Copyright Infringement of Your Logo
Has Your Logo Been Copied in Violation of Your Copyright? You May Have a Claim. Call Sanders Law Group Today.
Has someone violated your copyright by copying your logo? Logos can be protected by copyright law as well as trademarks. Whether your copyright has been violated depends on your logo and its uniqueness, as well as the similarity of the infringing logo.
Ultimately, you need to speak with a copyright attorney to determine your rights and whether you have a valid claim. Call the copyright lawyers at Sanders Law Group, helping clients nationwide and across the globe fight copyright infringement.
Violations of Your Copyright Can Produce Substantial Financial Harm
Designers and graphic artists put a tremendous amount of skill, time and effort into creating a logo. Companies use those logos to represent and identify their business. When a company violates your copyright to your logo, they may confuse consumers, damage your reputation and cause you to lose revenue from deceived customers.
Whether you are the original artist who created the logo (and still owns the rights to the logo) or are the business whose logo has been infringed upon, you have rights.
Logos: Copyright vs. Trademark
Logos are protected both by copyright as well as trademark laws.
On this page we are focusing on the copyright aspect. Your rights, if any, under trademark law are separate and apart from any rights under copyright.
Upon Creation of an Original Work, You Own the Copyright
When you create a logo, you become an author of that work. According to the law, copyright attaches immediately.
With logos, we must pay attention to whether the logo is sufficiently original to warrant copyright protection.
You Cannot Copyright a Word, Phrase or Idea
It is important to remember that copyright protection does not apply to a single word, a short phrase or an idea. While it is true that a word may be trademarked, under certain circumstances, that is outside the scope of copyright law.
Remember that a copyrighted work must show authorship. There must be some level of uniqueness and creativity. What is considered is a combination of the words used, the colors selected, the fonts, the illustrations or images, and more.
If someone copies your logo, changes the words, and your original logo design was sufficiently unique and creative, that may constitute a copyright infringement of your logo.
Our Copyright Lawyers Fight for Copyright Holders Worldwide
Protect Your Rights without Large Upfront Costs
The reality is that it is very expensive to retain an attorney by the hour. For this reason, Sanders Law Group works on a contingency basis.
This means our clients do not pay upfront fees. We work for a percentage of the recovery.
We are the law firm that is actually in it with you, fighting for your rights.
How Copyright Works With Logos
Logos are a unique area of copyright law in that they can receive protection both under copyright as well as trademark. Remember that copyright will not protect the name of the company, the color choice or the font choice alone.
For copyright protection to apply, the design must be sufficiently unique. There must be substantial creativity involved. While many logos are simply text and may not receive protection under copyright, more ornate logos with a great deal of creative design can be protected under copyright.
Is the logo simply the company name in an off-the-shelf font? Plain text with the use of multiple colors? Or is it more akin to art, with original drawings and a great deal of detail? The more original the work, the more likely copyright protection would apply.
When it comes to logos, whether your logo reaches that level of originality that warrants copyright protection is really a question of fact and law. It needs to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. If you have questions, call and speak with our copyright attorneys to discuss your unique situation.
If Your Copyright is Violated, You May Be Entitled to Recover Damages
Under the law, if your copyright has been violated, you may be entitled to recover damages. Under copyright, there are two types of damages: actual damages and statutory damages.
If you have a trademark filed on your logo, that would present other opportunities for recovery and should be considered as well.
Focusing on copyright, “actual damages” equate to an actual financial harm that you have suffered. This could also be the benefit gained by the party using your logo. Depending on your unique situation, when dealing with logos, there is the potential of significant damages.
Has somebody in your industry created a substantially similar logo to deceive the public into buying their products? Has someone taken your exact logo and put it on their product to sell? Has someone used your logo on inferior products, harming your reputation and goodwill?
These are among the questions that need to be evaluated to determine if you have suffered actual damages. From there, a deeper analysis is required to determine the dollar amount of those actual damages.
In contrast, statutory damages are based on federal law. There are federal laws that provide specific remedies when a copyright is violated. This is not a fine, but is an award for the violation itself, even without proving specific financial harm.
Call Our Copyright Lawyers Today
Our copyright attorneys help clients nationwide and across the globe. If someone is violating your copyright, whether it involves your logo or other creative work, contact our lawyers today to discuss your case. We provide a no cost, and no risk consultation and help determine if you have a case we are able to pursue on your behalf.
We look forward to speaking with you. Call us today.
