Copyright vs Trademark

Comments debate whether issues involving logos, designs, or branding are matters of copyright infringement or trademark law, with most emphasizing trademark over copyright.

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Keywords

IBM TOX VERY FS FREE wikipedia.org futurestack.io newsguidelines.html ycombinator.com SAVAGE trademark copyright logo infringement trademarks logos law disney copyright law fair use

Sample Comments

majewsky Jun 11, 2019 View on HN

It's not a copyright issue, it's a trademark issue. Anything resembling the trademark can be considered an infringement, and it's up to a judge to decide what is.

sidewndr46 Nov 24, 2025 View on HN

You're saying copyright but it's more likely to be a trademark issue.

talideon Jul 6, 2021 View on HN

This would be trademark law if anything, not copyright.

brundolf Oct 7, 2021 View on HN

Could that be treated as a trademark issue rather than a copyright issue?

fsckboy Sep 9, 2023 View on HN

logos aren't just trademarks, they are also themselves copyrighted, and if he never explicitly gave up the rights...

webmaven Jun 6, 2019 View on HN

This would be trademark (or possibly trade-dress, or even design-patent) infringement, not copyright per-se.

nothrabannosir Apr 24, 2015 View on HN

There's not just trademark, but also copyright. Somebody designed those logos. Does this fall under fair use?

ninjin Apr 24, 2019 View on HN

I am not a lawyer, but I am nearly 100% sure that what you are talking about is trademark protection [1] rather than copyright, people get these wrong frequently. As far as I know, you can enforce your copyright completely arbitrarily.[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark#Maintaining_rights

Buge Jan 2, 2019 View on HN

There's copyright law and trademark law. Copyright law might be ok with something but trademark law might ban it. The ban takes precedence.

ugh Dec 7, 2011 View on HN

That sounds a lot like trademark infringement, not copyright infringement.