Well...it wasn't easy.
I'm not sure what I expected when I asked for logos, but the response was great. After evaluating all of them, and your comments, and my own tastes and preferences, I've finally decided to go with Steve Herberger's design, which you see posted here (in a version that incorporates a few post-choice tweaks: the color of the glass outlines and the lettering, a slightly deeper red). Steve gets the $50 honorarium and a firm handshake, and we get a common image: three beers, three different beers, and our tagline: "Thanks, I'll have another!"
Thanks to everyone who designed a potential logo for The Session Beer Project!
Errr... Anyone know how I go about copyrighting this image? Trademarking it? Whatever?
I'm not sure what I expected when I asked for logos, but the response was great. After evaluating all of them, and your comments, and my own tastes and preferences, I've finally decided to go with Steve Herberger's design, which you see posted here (in a version that incorporates a few post-choice tweaks: the color of the glass outlines and the lettering, a slightly deeper red). Steve gets the $50 honorarium and a firm handshake, and we get a common image: three beers, three different beers, and our tagline: "Thanks, I'll have another!"
Thanks to everyone who designed a potential logo for The Session Beer Project!
Errr... Anyone know how I go about copyrighting this image? Trademarking it? Whatever?
I'm no lawyer so take this with a grain of salt, but you'll earn trademark rights by simply using the logo. The longer you've had the logo and more frequently you use it, the "more trademarked" it will be. If you put 'TM' somewhere on the image (which doesn't require any registration), it'll tell other people they're dealing with someone else's intellectual property. Even if you register the trademark with the state and/or federal government, your trademark won't have any rights if/where you don't use it. Basically, registering a trademark just makes it pop up in searches where people check to see if their ideas are already trademarked.
ReplyDeleteCopyrighting is more for the expression of ideas, i.e. your published articles or the content of this weblog.
This is where you should start:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.uspto.gov/web/trademarks/workflow/start.htm
I was going to tell you basically what Joe has said. I'll add a TM to the tagline when I send an updated version.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, the copyright you have under the logo ought to suffice too.
Really nice. Now when do we get to start buying the beer drinkers uniform (i.e. t-shirt)?
ReplyDeleteI guess CafePress is the next step, Kelly!
ReplyDeleteGood choice! And I'm with Kelly. That would make a nice T.
ReplyDeleteI like it!
ReplyDeleteCopyright kicks in automatically as soon as material is created. It applies to works of art like this logo as well as text. Whatever particular agreement you've made with Steve will determine who among you holds the copyright. Generally, a work must have been created by an employee working within the scope of his duties for copyright to transfer to the employer.
ReplyDeleteTrademark, as the name suggests, applies to matters of trade. So, logos and slogans used for goods for sale. Servicemark tends to be used when there's not physical product (like stock advice, e.g.). Trademark, like Joe says, does not require registration either, but the advantage of registering is to bolster your case if you want to enter into a dispute with another party. The basic question that will be considered is whether there's a possibility for confusion in the minds of consumers.
In short, you're welcome to self-declare any and all protections you want, and pay for registration of the same if you choose.