Are high school logos copyrighted? (and can i use them to market my school?

I am an high school graphic designer and have been professionally designing logos for two years. Recently a principal asked me if it would be okay to use some of the logos that i had made in the past on his school's website, Amazon store, etc. I spoke with him and he said that it would be fine as long as I did not take credit for them.

So my question is, are these logos copyrighted and if so, can i use them to market my high school?

High school logos are copyrighted.

Can I Use High School Logos to Market My School? High school logos are copyrighted. This means that you cannot use the logo on your website or marketing material without permission from the school. You can contact the school, or promote the school in a positive light, but if you want to use their logo on your website or other promotional materials, you need to get permission from someone at the school.

The same goes for photos of students and staff members. Some schools have photographers who take pictures of all events and activities, but others do not. In either case, you should get permission before using any images of students or staff in any way outside of your own personal scrapbooks or photo albums.

If a school has not registered the copyright to their logo, then there is no legal protection.

A logo is a trademark, which means it's a word, phrase, symbol or design that identifies the source of a product or service. A logo is like a company's signature — it distinguishes it from competitors and helps consumers recognize the quality of the product or service. A high school logo may be copyrighted if the school has registered its design with the U.S.

Copyright Office. If not, there is no legal protection for the design because it isn't unique enough to qualify for copyright protection. However, even if your school doesn't have a registered trademark for its logo, that doesn't mean you can use it for free. Just like any other logo, there are certain rules about how you can use a high school's official logo.

For example: You can't change the color or proportions of a high school's official logo without permission from the administration. You can't use an official logo without permission from the administration if you're not affiliated with that high school (e.g., an alumni club).

If a school has registered the copyright to their logo, then they have exclusive rights to use and authorize others to use it.

Are high school logos copyrighted? (and can i use them to market my school?) If a school has registered the copyright to their logo, then they have exclusive rights to use and authorize others to use it. Logos are protected under U.S. copyright laws as individual works of art. Therefore, they can be protected by registered copyrights or unregistered common law copyrights.

Unregistered Common Law Copyrights Schools do not need to register their logos with the Copyright Office in order to protect them from copying. This means that if you copied a logo from one school without permission, that school could sue you for copyright infringement, even if they did not register their logos with the U.S.

Copyright Office. In fact, most schools will often send cease & desist letters or even sue over unauthorized use of their logos before pursuing registration with the Copyright Office or filing an infringement lawsuit in court because it provides proof of ownership of the work and can help establish damages if there is a trial later on down the road if they lose their case at summary judgment stage or trial by jury.

Registered Copyrights Recording your copyright with the U.S.

In A Word...

The resounding answer is no. Trademark law protects "words" and "phrases" that are used to identify and market particular products or services. But schools are not businesses, and school logos do not serve to identify a particular product or service. The only way a high school logo would be protected under trademark law is if the school had obtained federal registration of the mark (this would be indicated by the ® symbol at the end of the logo).

No one can copyright a high school logo, even if they designed it. Since schools are not businesses, there is no consumer confusion about which logo represents which school. Hence, there's no need for any sort of trademark protection.