Copyrighting Logos and Font Questions

[KingHippo]

I liked a vector that I saw on a website and I wanted to turn it into my company logo. The owner of the website gave me permission via e-mail to copyright the logo and use it for my business free of charge. Is it enough to just have the e-mail as proof of copyright or should I get an official government one similar to what I did with my trademarks?

Oh also, another thing. I have a bunch of cool fonts that I am using for the text of the company logo. Does anyone know if its legal to use any font you want in your company logo?

[Evan]

Copyright and trademarks are two different things. Text, such as this message, can be copyrighted. Logos cannot; but they can be trademarked.

[vangogh]

As far as the fonts are concerned as long as you have the right to use the font (you've paid for it or it's given away for use, etc) you should be fine using it in a logo. The only time I can see where you'd run into trouble is if you were using the font without paying for it.

Of course I'm not lawyer, nor do I play one on tv.

[nealrm]

Trademark attached a specific phrase or logo to a company and can be registered or unregistered. The unregistered trademark (tm) is local in nature and carries less weight then a registered trademark (R).

A copyright give a specific person the rights to reproduce and use a specific object (words, logos, works of art, photos, website layouts, programs, etc)

Legally he needs to give you a sign document giving you permission to use the logo.

[cbscreative]

FYI: This thread is almost a year old, but bumped to the top by a spammer who has since been thrown out of the house.