Re: [gentoo-nfp] Logo usage on http://snapcraft.io/

[Ulrich Mueller]

>>>>> On Sun, 19 Jun 2016, Rich Freeman wrote:

> If I draw a picture, it is copyrighted by me (if it isn't a work for
> hire, under US law).  If somebody else draws the same picture, it is
> copyrighted by me and the new author.  I'd need the new author's
> permission to use it, but so would the new author.

> I don't know the whole history here, but you can't just draw a
> Gentoo logo and claim sole copyright on it.  You can't even legally
> redistribute your own work without permission since it is a
> derivative work.

That applies if the picture is copyrightable, which for the "g" isn't
entirely clear. It is a simple geometric shape, so it may well be that
its rendering doesn't reach the threshold of originality.

Also, the "g" first appeared as part of the red "gentoo" logo, as can
be seen in archived versions of the gentoo.org webpage:
https://web.archive.org/web/20000815231335/http://www.gentoo.org/
Therefore one could even argue that the "g" forms part of a typeface,
whose rendering isn't copyrightable:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property_protection_of_typefaces

So it may well be that both the Blender and the vector version are
independently copyrightable, whereas their renderings are not.
Of course, trademark protection would still apply to all of these.

IANAL,
Ulrich