Brand names, logos, trademarks in photos

Hi all,

I have a great idea for selling prints, but it would involve including logos within the images. Anyone have any experience in this area? The main focus of the image won't be the logo, but it would certainly be readable and present in the image. Thanks for any input or experience anyone can offer.

Art these going to be sold as "art" pieces?

Yes, they'd be part of an artistic print.
Not quite as in your face as Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup work, but the logo would still be there.

dan.k78 wrote in post #18566615
Hi all,

I have a great idea for selling prints . . .

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Hey, Dan!

If you have a way to actually get people to pay money for prints, then my hat is of to you.


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Just voicing my thoughts ....
a.) an image of a subject (still-life/person) and there is a clear logo/brand name visible as a banner/poster in the image
b.) a 'swimsuit model' could be seen posing beneath a 'Rolex' banner - but the swimsuit brand itself is of prime interest and/or just the model
c.) a BF Goodrich car-tyre being changed at a Mitsubishi Dealer

dual promotion could lead to dual royalties - worth a try!

Cham_001 wrote in post #18566645
Just voicing my thoughts ....
a.) an image of a subject (still-life/person) and there is a clear logo/brand name visible as a banner/poster in the image
b.) a 'swimsuit model' could be seen posing beneath a 'Rolex' banner - but the swimsuit brand itself is of prime interest and/or just the model
c.) a BF Goodrich car-tyre being changed at a Mitsubishi Dealer

dual promotion could lead to dual royalties - worth a try!

.
I think maybe you are seeing this differently than the OP and the rest of us.

You seem to think that the corporations whose logos would be depicted would actually like this, and pay royalties. . I believe the real concern is that the corporations would shut this down and sue the OP for using their logo in an unauthorized manner.

Corporations can do their own marketing, and don't need forum photographers to help them with exposure or advertising.


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dan.k78 wrote in post #18566641
Yes, they'd be part of an artistic print.
Not quite as in your face as Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup work, but the logo would still be there.

Typically there is a lot less friction with art prints. It's been a while since I've looked into it, but doing things like limited edition print runs help qualify it as art.

That's not to say you might not get a trademark owner giving you a hard time, but typically you would be okay.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #18566656
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I think maybe you are seeing this differently than the OP and the rest of us.

You seem to think that the corporations whose logos would be depicted would actually like this, and pay royalties. . I believe the real concern is that the corporations would shut this down and sue the OP for using their logo in an unauthorized manner.

Corporations can do their own marketing, and don't need forum photographers to help them with exposure or advertising.

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Tom, you are right on the money.
As for being able to sell the prints, well, that would remain to be seen, but I feel like I could do it as sort of a side project with no deadlines or oversight, so it would happen whenever I had extra time.

dan.k78 wrote in post #18566672
Tom, you are right on the money.
As for being able to sell the prints, well, that would remain to be seen, but I feel like I could do it as sort of a side project with no deadlines or oversight, so it would happen whenever I had extra time.

The one thing I would try to avoid is to not use the logo company's names as part of the "main draw" of the image. . I mean, if the logo just happens to be there, somewhere in the print, then ok. . But if you are using a company's products or name brand recognition as part of what entices people to want the prints, then you are trying to directly profit by using their intellectual property, which is taboo.

If you use Facebook or other social media to promote these prints, then I would make sure that you don't write the names of the companies in the Facebook posts. . What I mean is that when posting to Facebook, you would not want to say anything like, "Come have yourself photographed in a Corvette!" . Instead, you would need to say something like, "Come have yourself photographed in a sports car!"

In the first example, you are directly using General Motor's intellectual property to get people to buy your product. . In the second example, you are not naming anyone's brand, nor violating anyone's intellectual property rights.


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Good point.

NO.

I was merely posing the Questions

Here is what you ought to do...or at least purport to do: The image ought to make its own critical statement about the circumstance of the logo. Do that and you're in the copyright clear.