Issue link: https://docs.hic.us/i/403552
C C o o p p y y r r i i g g h h t t s s A A n n d d T T r r a a d d e e m m a a r r k k s s Copyright/Trademark infringement is a serious legal issue. If convicted of such an offense, a Business Owner can face monumental fines and even be subject to forfeiture of equipment. It is the responsibility of every Embroiderer to avoid infringing on anyone's copyright or trademark. The first step is to know the law. Trademarks A trademark relates to any word, name, symbol or device that is used in trade to distinguish goods and to indicate the source of those goods. A trademark registered and visible on the product protects you from others producing something similar and fraudulently marketing it as the original. In fact, a registered trademark is required by law to be visibly marked as such. Most large corporations, such as Disney, Nike and Anheuser-Busch, are strict in enforcing their trademark privileges. Professional Sports organizations guard monitor their trademarked properties very closely. Universities are taking steps also to ensure only authorized outlets reproduce their trademarks. Even reproducing the name of your favorite team our professional athlete is prohibited. Copyrights Copyrights protect the literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works of an author or artist. The copyright goes to the form of expression, rather than to the subject matter. This means you cannot recreate someone else's picture or design without their permission. The appropriate symbol for protected designs should be sewn with the design. C in a circle is the symbol for copyright, whether or not it is registered. There is also a misconception that changing an original work by more than 20% is not a copyright infringement. This is not true. The real test used by courts, is to determine if there is enough likeness in the recreated work to cause a normal individual to confuse it with the original work. Protect Yourself If you are asked to embroider anything that even remotely looks like it could be a case of copyright or trademark infringement, take steps to protect yourself. As the customer to provide a letter of authorization for reproduction of the design. If the customer is legitimate, then he/she won't mind. If they refuse to provide such authorization, then refuse the order. Even legitimate people sometimes don't have rights to logos that they think they do. For example, a Ford Car Dealer does not necessarily have automatic permission to sew the Mustang logo. Such business owners are usually provided a media kit from the home office that explains what they can and cannot do, and www.hsi.us care@hsi.us 235