1 |
On Tue, Oct 05, 2004 at 01:21:23PM -0600, Daniel Robbins wrote: |
2 |
> 2) Progress on getting the "g" logo registered isn't going as well. The |
3 |
> UST&PO wants a black and white, non-dithered version of the logo, which of |
4 |
> course doesn't exist, and if it did exist would not look like our friendly |
5 |
> "g" logo anyway (so I'm not sure how valuable the registered trademark would |
6 |
> be even if we got it.) The UST&PO will only register trademarks that can be |
7 |
> represented in black and white without shading, and the "g" logo is clearly |
8 |
> not in this category. My lawyers are happy to keep trying to get it |
9 |
> registered (and charging me/us several thousand dollars for their time) but |
10 |
> this doesn't seem like a smart course of action. |
11 |
> |
12 |
> What I plan to do: stop trying to register the "g" logo and just follow |
13 |
> through and get the "gentoo" name registered. This also seems to make sense |
14 |
> seeing that the Gentoo Web site redesign is underway and it looks like we |
15 |
> will be getting a new logo for Gentoo anyway. We can still use copyright to |
16 |
> protect misuse of the "g" logo, and still use it as a trademark, just not a |
17 |
> registered one. |
18 |
|
19 |
Indeed; the G logo still is original artwork and therefore protected by the |
20 |
copyright laws. Since you're the G author, you hold the copyright, so you |
21 |
might want to consider one of the following actions: |
22 |
- License the "G" usage to the public under certain conditions (possibly, |
23 |
if you agree on them, those already discussed here and available at |
24 |
http://dev.gentoo.org/~swift/name_logo.html) |
25 |
- License the "G" logo to the Gentoo Foundation with broader conditions and |
26 |
with the explicit statement that the Gentoo Foundation can license out the |
27 |
G logo with stricter conditions only (if you understand what I mean here) |
28 |
- Transfer G logo copyright to Gentoo Foundation (*) |
29 |
|
30 |
|
31 |
(*) I know that with Belgian law you can easily do this without having to |
32 |
register the artwork itself (since it now is "artwork", not a logo), not |
33 |
sure about American law. It just involves a written statement. |
34 |
|
35 |
Also, in Belgian law, the author keeps the so-called "moral" rights, |
36 |
which means you are allowed to: |
37 |
- change the artwork |
38 |
- retreat artwork from public usage |
39 |
- fight abuse of the artwork |
40 |
|
41 |
> Also, since these bills do end up being quite significant when totalled up, |
42 |
> I am going to try to keep the Foundation informed of all the Foundation and |
43 |
> trademark-related legal expenses. Right now, the foundation has an |
44 |
> outstanding bill from Wayne Chew of $646.73 for assistance related to |
45 |
> setting up the Foundation. I will use Store donations as well as some money |
46 |
> from the Store to pay this off, and give you a break-down of donations to |
47 |
> date when I do this. |
48 |
> |
49 |
> The trademark registration (handled by peacocklaw.com) is still getting |
50 |
> billed to Gentoo Technologies, Inc. I'll keep you informed of amounts and |
51 |
> use the donation money set aside to also help with the cost. The Store will |
52 |
> chip in with financial assistance when it can. |
53 |
|
54 |
Ok, thanks for the update. |
55 |
|
56 |
Wkr, |
57 |
Sven Vermeulen |
58 |
|
59 |
-- |
60 |
Documentation & PR project leader |
61 |
|
62 |
The Gentoo Project <<< http://www.gentoo.org >>> |