Do you really own your logo and brand?
Every modern business owner knows the importance of having a unique, head-turning, and eye-catching brand. One that makes you stand out from competitors and the dozens of other business owners who want to be remembered by their prospects and consumers.
The rise of design software like Canva, Visme, Adobe Spark, and Design Wizard, just to name a few, means there are countless templates readily waiting to be used by anyone, enabling the creation of phenomenal brand materials!
These can seem like great alternatives to hiring a designer, creating opportunities for small businesses to jump on the marketing and content-creation bandwagon while saving necessary and treasured costs.
Need a social media post? There is a template for that! A quick video introducing what your company does? The software has you covered. You can even customise most templates by applying your own brand colours to make it feel ‘yours’.
But is it really yours and do you really own your branding material if you have used a pre-existing template to create it?
Trademark vs Copyright
The laws of trademarking and copyright can help shine a light on the questions above so it is important to get the terminology right. A lot of people may think that the two terms are interchangeable but that could not be further from the truth, especially in this instance.
Copyright:
Copyright arises automatically on creation of work and usually lies with the creator or first author of the work. Such work can include an invention, a design, artwork, or a piece of music. If you are the holder of a logo and own the copyright to it then you are able to take legal action against anyone who has infringed or plagarised your design. Copyright ownership is often shown with a small symbol ‘©,’ meaning you have the legal right to distribute copies of particular goods.
So how can I own and enforce copyright?
The issue with free open source software is that ultimately, you never own the work and therefore you can’t claim copyright for a logo that has been created by a free logo maker such as Canva. This is because they are made using templates and royalty free images so the expression of the idea is not original. The benefit of hiring a professional logo designer to execute your logo design ensures that the work is original and a creative interpretation of your idea.
But what about IP Assignments?
Just because you hire a professional logo designer though does not mean you own the copyright to the design. Whilst the idea itself may be original, unlike the free software, the creator will own all copyright in the design unless they are an employee of your business or the work has been assigned to you in writing. Until then, the designer owns the copyright to the logo- regardless of whether you paid for it or not!
Intellectual property (IP) rights give the creator or owner the exclusive right to use the intellectual property and earn money from it. The only caveat to this is if they are an employee of your business in which case the copyright and any relative IP rights will be owned by the business.
Arranging to have the rights assigned to you is certainly something you should consider, particularly if you’ve had help from friends and family, or you’re using freelancers or contractors who haven’t signed a Consultancy Agreement or an Employment Agreement with you; such agreements can have relevant clauses which outline who owns which rights.
Trademark:
Trademark and copyright come under the umbrella of intellectual property, however as previously established, they are different.
A trademark is a registrable right that protects the unique identification of a brand or product (like a tangible logo). Large brands all protect their distinguishable identities by securing their trademark; think along the lines of the purple packaging on Cadbury’s chocolate or the yellow and red McDonald’s logo! Trademarks can help make it easier to prevent copyright infringement and help prove you have ownership over your product if it comes to an infringement.
In order to apply for a trademark you must first own the rights to the design, and is why it is important to ensure any work is assigned to you in writing. However, the issue with using free logo design software is that as established above, you merely have a licence to use the free content and never expressly own it. In fact most companies state that it is a breach of their licence terms to use any content as part of a trade mark. This therefore means that you may actually never have the right to trade mark and protect your brand.
Back to the beginning…
So now you have a rough idea of the difference between copyright and trademarks, it is important to ensure that you own the rights to your brand and logo.
If you have a logo designed but are worried you do not own the rights to it or if you find that the terminology is difficult to wrap your head around then reach out to us and we can provide you with advice on the above to make sure your business is protected.
We have extensive experience in registering trademarks, and assessing IP and copyright matters for all kinds of businesses, so you will be in good (and friendly) hands. After all, prevention is much better than the cure!
However, note that if you are in a situation where you believe your work is being infringed or plagiarised then reach out to our litigation team. We are here to help!
