Do You Own Your Logo?
You bought your logo, but is it yours?
You found a graphic designer and they created an amazing logo for you. You paid what they asked and began to use your logo on all your marketing material, business cards, fliers, website, etc. But when it comes to ownership, do you actually own this logo? Most would say the property is yours once you pay for it but in truth, it is not. The logo still belongs to the designer who created it and let me explain why!
I recently saw an interesting article about Kawhi Leonard, a small forward that plays for the Toronto Raptors. He is suing Nike for attempting to copyright the logo that he claims to have created in 2011 after he was drafted. The logo depicts a traced outline of his hand with the letters KL (his initials) and his jersey number (#2), stylized within the hand. Years later, once he was signed by Nike, parties involved agreed upon using the image as his signature logo. He was also able to use the logo for other non-Nike paraphernalia like his basketball camps and charity functions. Recently however, Leonard has since departed from Nike and is now represented by New Balance. It was his plan to take his logo with him but Nike stated that Leonard can no longer use the logo because it is their intellectual property. So who is right?
When an (independent) creator develops a design, it is their intellectual property unless stated otherwise in a signed contract. It is up to the customer to decide if they want the property rights transferred to their name. This should be requested by the client especially in situations when they plan to copyright or trademark their logo in the future. In my own experience as a graphic and brand designer, I typically do not offer a logo release escort mersin contract unless requested. I find that not having a contract allows me to display past work on my website and portfolio. However, I do mention that ownership change is an option in the original project contract.
In the end, as a designer, and from what I understand of the story, the intellectual property should belong to the original creator, Kawhi Leonard. So I ask you again, do you own your logo? Is it important? It depends, on the plans your have for your business future.
The original article can be found here.
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