ColonelMike Posted August 20, 2009 Posted August 20, 2009 All my life, I've enjoyed looking at how the high schools use college fight songs and logos for their sports teams. Sometimes, schools use things from multiple schools!! I remember going to see a Nelson County football game and noticing that the logo painted on the field and buildings was the U of L Cardinal head; the "N" on the football helmets was the Nebraska Cornhusker helmet logo, and the fight song was UK's... Now I'm hearing from some athletic directors that some colleges are threatening to take some KY high schools to court for using their proprietary logos. IMO, this is shameful and reflects poorly on the university in question. What possible harm could be done to a university by a HS using their logo? I'm very well versed on copyright infringement, and I simply do not see the damage that the HS can do. In fact, I believe this can only be beneficial to the college in question. Has anyone else heard about these threatened lawsuits? Anybody know of one that has actually gone to court? What do you think? :ohbrother:
BigCatDaddy Posted August 20, 2009 Posted August 20, 2009 Isn't copying one of the finest forms of flattery? I would be proud that HS teams were using our logo if I were those colleges! That is a shame, and the sad part is they would probably recruit kids from schools that are using those logos and never think twice about it. I would like to think prestigious academic institutions would have better things to do! Sad.
Painter Posted August 20, 2009 Posted August 20, 2009 If anyone exactly duplicates a trademarked logo, without some form of acceptable, permission, then the owner of that logo has the right to protect their property. From a practical standpoint, however, I agree that it seems a bit ridiculous for a university to waste its time and money going after a high school for trademark infringement. Legally, the university could successfully win its case, but would the university truly be damaged? If a high school really liked a particular logo, why not change it just enough to call it their own? There’s more than one way to skin a cat…
ColonelMike Posted August 20, 2009 Author Posted August 20, 2009 I think that the university would be more greatly damaged in the court of public opinion if they ever actually took one of these cases to court...but I know of at least one case in which a major SEC school is threatening to do just that.
Uncle Rico Posted August 20, 2009 Posted August 20, 2009 You know I was just wondering about this subject the other day, but I wondered about NFL logo's. I know here in Harlan some of the logo's we use are from the Montana State Grizzlies. I would hate to think that someone would be that picky to worry about what a high school is doing, but it comes down to one thing, They want to get paid for someone else using the logo!
Ram Posted August 20, 2009 Posted August 20, 2009 This thread reminds me of the Pat Riley debate, when he coined and copyrighted the phrase, "Three Peat", and was threatening suing USC for using it on T-Shirts. Sure, it's his, he owns it, but it made him look really bad. I would think Colleges would like high schools using their logos, it is publicity for the college, it would help with recruiting, and heck it's just cool. Over the years Raceland used the NFL's Rams logo on their helmets, and had numbers on one side like Alabama. Both looked good to football fans. Greenup County had the Green Bay "G" on their helmets and everytime I wore my Green Bay shirts, people thought I was a Greenup fan.
gchs_uk9 Posted August 20, 2009 Posted August 20, 2009 I can't imagine most schools make much money off of the use of the logo, outside of selling a few t-shirts and caps. It would almost seem that things like this would increase the visibility of the logo. I know for a fact that some folks in Lincoln County bought Louisville products because their "L" was similar for a time. They would have never bought those hats, etc. if Lincoln hadn't adopted a similar log. And I would imagine it would work the same way in other places.
nees1212 Posted August 20, 2009 Posted August 20, 2009 This has been going on for years. If I'm not mistaken UC went through this a few years back. It's a business thing, and IMO high schools need to either be more creative, or at least change the logo slightly.
Rebel Posted August 20, 2009 Posted August 20, 2009 What gets me was when I was young in little league baseball we had the Reds, Tigers, Braves, Pirates and so on. When my son played they had to stop because MLB wanted to charged the rec programs a fee to use their name and logos on the hats given to the playes. This is very sad that greed has come to this.
DADDY CAT Posted August 20, 2009 Posted August 20, 2009 Well, if you are going after the high school for using such things as helmet decals, the more logical thing to do would be to go after the maker of the decal that offers it for sale, would it not? For example changing the color of a college logo for a high school's use. The school is not making their own decals. They are purchasing them from someone. Lynn Camp and Corbin both use a different color "Clemson" paw than that of the university themselves.
nees1212 Posted August 20, 2009 Posted August 20, 2009 What gets me was when I was young in little league baseball we had the Reds, Tigers, Braves, Pirates and so on. When my son played they had to stop because MLB wanted to charged the rec programs a fee to use their name and logos on the hats given to the playes. This is very sad that greed has come to this. It's not necessarliy greed. MLB teams are actually now sponsoring leagues and teams. So, they only want their logos on those that they sponsor. Well, if you are going after the high school for using such things as helmet decals, the more logical thing to do would be to go after the maker of the decal that offers it for sale, would it not? For example changing the color of a college logo for a high school's use. The school is not making their own decals. They are purchasing them from someone. Good point. I recall a local company (that is no longer around) years ago had some issues using high school logos without the school's permission.
zebraman Posted August 20, 2009 Posted August 20, 2009 I seem to remember reading Wayne, WV was sent a letter that they were to stop using the Wisconsin W as their logo and if they didn't there were be legal action. I think that happened a few years back. I must say
spindoc Posted August 20, 2009 Posted August 20, 2009 I seem to remember reading Wayne, WV was sent a letter that they were to stop using the Wisconsin W as their logo and if they didn't there were be legal action. I think that happened a few years back. I must say Well, they still use it. It's on most of the cars in our parking lot as I speak.
Colonels_Wear_Blue Posted August 20, 2009 Posted August 20, 2009 Has anyone else heard about these threatened lawsuits? Anybody know of one that has actually gone to court? What do you think? :ohbrother: The article below doesn't say anything about court...but the trademark enforcement has has apparently come up. http://indianalawblog.com/archives/2005/10/ind_law_tradema.html
3wishes Posted August 20, 2009 Posted August 20, 2009 It is the companies they should be going after if anyone, because their selection is all the schools have to go on, not to mention for example how could Clemson copyright that black paw, that Lynn Camp uses, it is a claw and it would be very easy to continue to make it look very similiar, there isn't a whole lot you can do to make it look different.
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