Club clamping down on use of the crest

[Hamilton]

i dont believe this is the case, they haven't sought to protect the image so it loses the trademark protection. if they even applied for it back then, which is unlikly. you'll recall that Arsenal changed their logo a few years ago specifically to be able to protect the new one and stop the tat merchants copying it. the club have no right to the term "seagulls" in relation to football unless they have registerd the trademark, and since its been in use for so long as nickname i dont think it would stand up anyway.

I agree to a point, and I can see how it can be defended, but if the club wanted to seize the opportunity to fight it then they might. They'll think they have a case given the nature of their business. They can point to their core business being threatened and they will want to protect that business.

If you're selling brands and naming rights, basically you know as well as I that the owners of the brand will wish to defend all the territory. If that's a path they want to pursue.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Hopefully, the fact I've been running the Seagulls TV website from January 2009 and the club has run their Seagulls TV branding since August 2011 might work in my favour, as well as the fact I have no plans for my website to go beyond 1997. Fingers crossed!

 

[timco]

OK new temporary banner in place what do people think?

I am not brilliant at graphic design if someone who is fancies doing a better one for me feel free to offer, sadly it would have to be for free though, no money!

Other wise I will start work on a permanent one soon myself see what me and some design software can come up with

If you want to see what it looks like click any link below.

 

[clapham_gull]

Hopefully, the fact I've been running the Seagulls TV website from January 2009 and the club has run their Seagulls TV branding since August 2011 might work in my favour, as well as the fact I have no plans for my website to go beyond 1997. Fingers crossed!

Er.. Good luck with that one.

 

[Superphil]

i dont believe this is the case, they haven't sought to protect the image so it loses the trademark protection. if they even applied for it back then, which is unlikly. you'll recall that Arsenal changed their logo a few years ago specifically to be able to protect the new one and stop the tat merchants copying it. the club have no right to the term "seagulls" in relation to football unless they have registerd the trademark, and since its been in use for so long as nickname i dont think it would stand up anyway.

When I was told to remove Premier League badges from my site I looked into this and it appears that any previous official club badge, whether copyrighted or not, is still IP of the club, so you still can't use it without express permission. Turns out, the PL only give express permission in exchange for ££££. Barber Out.

 

[TSB]

So what would (the alleged) bully boy do if everyone had the crest as their avatar?

 

[timco]

Apparently the club do a "not for profit" license for a £1 fee which I suppose is not so bad, depending on what the license says, not going to know not going to apply.

I have always felt that things like club badges are not owned by the entity that they symbolise but to all those who claim a non commercial affiliation to that entity, in this case fans. (Yes I realise that my sites could be seen as commercial as they carry advertising but these are there to simply cover some of the increasing cost of running the sites. In truth if this was a commercial venture it would have gone bust a long time ago. Income from all the sites I do, not just football, comes to about £200 a year on average.)

I know this is not the reality just disappointing to see my club wanting to control fan sites in such a way rather than acknowledge the use and keep an eye out for any misuse.

You may remember when Bozza had communication with AE about Amexchat once he explained they just let it roll with a we shall keep an eye on it, this is the proper way to manage your trademark, in my very humble view. You don't make friends by being heavy handed, if it not causing you harm why stamp on it, sadly the football authorities have advice from people that says everything has to pay or no one will pay.

These people think something that is free has no value, because they can't put a price on it.

 

[beorhthelm]

... not going to know not going to apply.

why not? i dont unnderstand your position, dont you have a copyright notice on you site to protect you from someone brazenly nicking all your efforts? if you saw someone using your images all over their site with out permission or reference to source, wouldnt you ask them to stop/ask permission/credit you?

 

[Gary Leeds]

A lot of companies do not mind their brand being used as long as it does not harm the reputation of the brand. I have run a subbuteo forum for about 5 years and with the recent relicensing of the brand I thought I had better check it was ok to still use it. A quick email and skype chat later and I was licenced at no cost. Infact they were most appreciative that someone took the time to contact them. £1 for a not for profit licence is a good deal but may as you say come with conditions as to content of the site (my Subbuteo licence allows no nudity, political and religious content on the forums lol)

All businesses do this at some point, its not something Barber has invented. Look at the FM series of games, they never have the PL logos because it costs too much to licence them

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Maybe Walt could be kind enough to ask some questions to Barber to clarify the position on fans sites and use of current or past branding.

 

[timco]

why not? i dont unnderstand your position, dont you have a copyright notice on you site to protect you from someone brazenly nicking all your efforts? if you saw someone using your images all over their site with out permission or reference to source, wouldnt you ask them to stop/ask permission/credit you?

It is simply one of personal choice I have decided to stop using the logo so no point applying, and you apply for consideration they could say no.

I have only had to go after somebody once who literally nicked the whole site and was passing it off as theirs! Thankfully though they left all the links as they were and I could see lots of downloads not originating on the site.

I am not having a go at the club they are doing what they think they have to do.

 

[beorhthelm]

I am not having a go at the club they are doing what they think they have to do.

fair enough, and i should say i like your seagull.