Using famous logos for somehting else, legality?
 

Is it illegal to use for example McD golden arches 'M' for a T-shirt that says something completely different, like

McGyver

or, same background and font as in subway logo but again the text would be completely different.

..and then making money off these.
Anyone know will that lead into deep shit or wealth and fortune??

I vote Deep Shit... you should've made this a Survey Question.

I used the little circle thing off the intel logo once on a T-shirt and I was asked to remove it from my site at cafepress. It didnt say
intel anywhere on it, just had the little circle part of the logo. So im thinking there is some legal ground, but not sure how well it would hold up in court if it were to go that far.

I have a shirt that has the Snapple Logo but it says "Snatch".


Remember Wacky Packages? They used logos like crazy.

cool 70's retro t-shirts coming soon, count me in :)

i wouldn't even think about it

Erm, I think the legality of it depends on the usage of it.
If it's a complete parody then it's legal. If it's stealing it and using it in another professional logo then it's illegal.

However i'm not 100% sure, might wanna check with a resident GFY lawyer :thumbsup

Yup that's why I'm posting here instead of reading stuff I find on google. :)


..and how do you define parody?
A red t-shirt with mcdonalds 'M' that spells Marijuana? A parody?
A red t-shirt with mcdonalds 'M' that spells McGoodies burgers? A lawsuit?

Right on the mark with those two examples.

Decent example, except I think McD's may still have a problem if you associated them with weed, so you better have the money to back up your claim that it is protected under Freedom of Speech (parody)

are you talking about the purecash Krispy Kream shirts?

i heard someone flat out say
"ill use wtf ever i want untill the C/D arrives. then ill remove it"

In my opinion, that will put you in deep shit. Mcdonals can sue you for both examples. Example one makes you subject to suit because the use and association of mcdonalcs m with marijuana puts their business in bad name. Example 2, it is an outright violation of their famous trademark.

No, actually I'm not talking about them. I didn't even know they had them :)

I'm making a finnish fucking around site, and I'm thinking of t-shirt designs for it.
The site translates pretty much "fuckyou.com" and I could come up with some nice designs if I dare. But we'll see.
I need to consult a real lawyer about this. lol. Not sure I trust GFY lawyers.

good thinking, get advice from a real lawyer for such questions.

IMO you could still get sued for both the versions... I think I have seen a lot of those shirts tho, like the Snickers logo only saying "Sucker" etc.

Yeah. I even have a 'mastercard' shirt saying 'masterpimp'.. I've seen PLENTY of shirts with 'ripped' logos... but we'll see what goes down.

Hit up Evil Chris and talk to him about it.

I personally think it'd be inviting a lawsuit, but I'm not an expert.

TripleXCash was, I don't know if they still are, but they were using the 7-11 logo on some of their shirts.

I've seen Mc Donalds Weed/Marijuana parody shirts here in stores in Hollywood and LA. I've had friends who owned something like that too. Not extremely uncommon.

The stoner shops here sell all sorts of parody shirts.

Not sure of the legalities though as they also sell bootlegged disney dvd's in front of mexican grocery stores here as well and we know that is illegal. But they don't seem to get in trouble.

there have been landmark lawsuits regarding parody/satire, free speech and copyrights. there are hundreds of tshirts i've seen using famous logos for humor.

i wouldn't sweat it TGF, the worst that happens is u get a C&D from some company and take down, stop selling that one.

Underground comix artist Robert Crumb went all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States defending himself against Walt Disney and won. He had done comix with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck fucking, doing drugs, twisted stuff.