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View Full Version : Licensing art work _from_ a company?



RKZENITH
03-15-2014, 04:51 PM
Let's suppose I wanted to use part of a fairly old, but still post Berne Convention, drawing in a logo or product (like a software application help screen). It's 30 years old and the company that marketed the long-defunct product it was on has long since been bought and sold by other companies. The attached image is a relevant example. Is it plausible to contact the current copyright holder and attempt to purchase a license? Barring that, how much trouble am I asking for if I draw, or pay an independent artist for, something similar?

nealrm
03-15-2014, 07:25 PM
Worst case - All your products are impounded, you forfeit all your profits to the copyright holder, you compensate them for all actual damages or statutory damages of up to $150,000 and pay all legal fees. Also, profits are are by default your gross revenue, it is then up to you to prove your expenses. Last, there is the potential of criminal action. I am assuming this is for a commercial product.

Given that the item you are looking at looks very much like a autobot, I would make sure that I didn't infringe on that copyright.

RKZENITH
03-15-2014, 10:09 PM
The picture is just an example. Moreover, I'm interested in how to obtain a license to use it for an unrelated product (not a derivative work). All of the info I can find online is geared towards helping artists license their work, which is in the opposite direction.

Harold Mansfield
03-15-2014, 10:34 PM
The picture is just an example. Moreover, I'm interested in how to obtain a license to use it for an unrelated product (not a derivative work). All of the info I can find online is geared towards helping artists license their work, which is in the opposite direction.

Go to the source. Contact the company that now owns the rights to the product.

RKZENITH
03-15-2014, 10:56 PM
Go to the source. Contact the company that now owns the rights to the product.

But is it plausible to get approval to use some obscure picture for a few hundred bucks or is it likely to be so unimportant to the company that the inquiry doesn't even get a response? What do I need to do or have to be taken seriously? The reason I ask is that I have in the past tried to contract out manufacturing of parts for a product and getting basic info such as MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) was like pulling teeth. I want to do this the legal way but almost every business interaction I've had thus far has been like trying to get two old uncles holding a grudge to speak to each other.

nealrm
03-15-2014, 11:32 PM
It would cost more than a few hundred bucks just to have the firms legal department look into it. My suggestion is to mark the artwork different but still along the same theme. We are talking about a toy robot, how close does it have to be to this product for your idea to work?

Harold Mansfield
03-16-2014, 12:14 AM
Just based on what I see, it's common to license a product for promotion of another. You can see that example everywhere with Met Life and Snoopy, Gieco and M&M's, and so on.
But I've never seen a license to use another product as part of a company logo. Met Life and Geico have their own logos.

I agree Nealrm, create something original.

As far as your other questions, you won't know until you ask. Who can say what the response will be or how easy to deal with they will be.
It would definitely be prudent to contact a trademark attorney instead of just winging it and guessing.

Business Attorney
03-17-2014, 05:16 PM
I think it is conceivable that they might respond but, as you and others have pointed out, they have very little incentive to take the time and effort to give you a license for a nominal amount. Your request would probably be ignored, but what do you have to lose by writing the letter? If you get no response, then you can go to Plan B.