blackpaws

Getting permission to use a schools name/logo

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I was contacted today by someone about doing a decal fundraiser for a high school spirit sale or something. I told them that I'd need permission from the school to use the schools name and do the fundraiser (as I think I should?). They asked me if I had a form for them to fill out, and who they should ask. The thing is, I have no form, and I don't know who they should ask haha. Any ideas? I am sure I won't get in trouble and can just do the sale, but I'd rather be safe than sorry!!!

 

I just feel like I should have a piece of paper from the school signed by someone (Principle, School Board, someone!?) giving me permission to use the schools name to make decals for this sale. 

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A piece of paper?

How about sending the school administration an eMail and asking what their policy is?

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If it's a fundraisers supporting the school I wouldn't think they would mind.

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I got verbal approval from the principle of the school last time I did some. All it took was a phone call.

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I don't think permission would be issued by the school administration. I would think you would need a letter from them with thier request submitted the area school board of education. That's what I would do here. - robert

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I always speak to the athletic director if the school is big enough to justify one. If not, get in good with the head football coach and let him handle the process. Offer him a special one off item.  Works every time. 

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I started through a teacher and ended up needing the approval of the school principal. If he didn't have the authority then he can explain it to whoever does. Done that with 3 schools to date with no problems but it's worth mentioning these are small town schools and not big city bureaucracy.

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I sent an email to the school board - they forwarded it their lawyer - who responded and let me know that public school names are public domain as well as most of the school logos. Certain logos are copyrighted by their artists and the school(s) have free license to use them and I could send any designs to them for review if necessary.

I also had to agree to avoid anything disparaging or of questionable taste involving the school's names and/or logos.

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Our high school is semiprivate, I have an email into the headmaster to find out what they require. Will see where it goes as have some moms that want shirts done.

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I sent an email to the school board - they forwarded it their lawyer - who responded and let me know that public school names are public domain as well as most of the school logos. Certain logos are copyrighted by their artists and the school(s) have free license to use them and I could send any designs to them for review if necessary. I also had to agree to avoid anything disparaging or of questionable taste involving the school's names and/or logos.

Very similar where I am at. I was told that all the public schools in our area are considered fair game as long as it was not in any kind of put-down against any of the others. There are some private schools that are probably a different story. 

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I would like to know more about that myself because I am getting asked for more stuff from the general public and the verbal agreements we had are done and over. These are state run schools so I would think they'd be in the public domain. Makes sense now that you guys mentioned that.

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I was told the same thing here in Tenn. The School names are public domain. Logos....now that's another story....

 

Funny thing..THE SCHOOL SYSTEM got sued over the High School logo which was a copy of a College Logo that nobody from the top on down noticed. They had to remove the logo from the artificial turf on the new football field,and the $500,000 scoreboard. It ended up costing the city about $100,000 altogether. Plus they had to destroy hundreds of T-shirts,coozies,etc. I thought it was funny as hell.

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I got verbal approval from the principle of the school last time I did some. All it took was a phone call.

We did the same thing, called the principal and we now do stuff for the school system all the time.

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I was told the same thing here in Tenn. The School names are public domain. Logos....now that's another story....

 

Funny thing..THE SCHOOL SYSTEM got sued over the High School logo which was a copy of a College Logo that nobody from the top on down noticed. They had to remove the logo from the artificial turf on the new football field,and the $500,000 scoreboard. It ended up costing the city about $100,000 altogether. Plus they had to destroy hundreds of T-shirts,coozies,etc. I thought it was funny as hell.

1 school close to here uses the USC trojan as their logo and another uses the clemson tigers logos and yet another uses the eagles logo. Funny thing is if you mention it to them they tell you it's their logo and nobody elses. One day they'll be getting a letter from an attorney.

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I was asked by the Cheerleading/Basketball coach for a local Elementary school here in TN with no issues. I figure the Coach has enough authority to make the call.

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If anybody could post a link to something that supports the legal standing of public schools being public domain I would be forever grateful and I'm sure many others would feel the same way.

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Basically anything created and/or owned by the government and/or paid for with taxpayer money is public domain.

Public school names should always be in the public domain. Their logo/mascot may be copyrighted, although many schools use generic mascot images. Our local high school uses a generic Bulldog as its mascot image, but also sells shirts with a stylized bulldog image that is copyrighted and can't be duplicated.

Your best is to contact your local school board(s) and obtain clearance in writing and make sure it comes from someone with the knowledge and authority to make that call.

If the sports coach asks for shirts for their team, that is one thing - but don't assume that gives you free reign to make more shirts to sell to the public. When it comes to copyright & trademarks - CYA is the name of the game.

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My guess is since my local schools "borrowed" their logos from elsewhere that me borrowing them wouldn't give them any grounds to stand on as long as I assumed the risk that the original owners don't come after us. If I knew I was going to do this for a living I may have attended law school first.

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If I knew I was going to do this for a living I may have attended law school first.

Ha ha! Ain't that the truth!

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School is back in and so are the requests for school gear. Did anyone by chance find a definitive answer for public use? 

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Dealing with this right now and according to the lead counsel for our PUBLIC school district, they hold trademarks on their school names and that of their mascots.  I'm finding it very hard to believe that they have trademarked "bobcats" and "wildcats" as they are so very popular as mascots across the country.  There is always the possibility that they have trademarked the combination of their school names and mascot nicknames, but I have yet to find anything at all on the US Trademark and Patent Office listings.  The attorney also told me that they require the companies who sell apparel to local grocery stores, Target, etc as well as the schools' booster clubs to apply for a nonexclusive license to produce items with school names on them. 

 

Hoping to get to the bottom of this soon, I've got requests for products and would like to stay off the firing line of this huge district.

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