Copyright on logos?

bass_junkie83

bass_junkie83

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This is something I came across this morning, I would appreciate anyone who can take a moment to have a look and advise.


This is a screen shot of the homepage for my website.

http://davidwalker-photography.co.uk/


And this I found this morning.

http://davidwalker-photography.co.uk/


Anyone spot any slight similarities in the logo?



I already knew of this guys existence. I believe he is based in the midlands or up north somewhere, up until fairly recently he had a different and not too great website. Without this logo.
His site was last modified on the 30th August 2011, though i can't be certain that this is when his he made the logo change.
My site went live on the 24th June.

I have the original vector image for the logo, which looking at the edge fuzzyness of the other guys he does not, which should be enough to prove me as the original owner.

I have contacted my web designer who created the logo and am awaiting a response from him.

Anyone else able to offer advise on how best to tackle this, I would appreciate you taking the time.

I know imitation is meant to be the sincerest form of flattery, but still....


EDIT: I have now heard back from my web designer, seems there is nothing that can be done. Both his and my logos are created from standard fonts, and although very similar are in fact different. And with it being a name, makes it less likely anything would come of it.
 
Last edited:
Just had the same confirmed by my web designer. Ho hum.

Cheers anyway. :)
 
I'm not really seeing this, your logo is your name in a font. His is clearly a different font, with the word "photography" positioned differently underneath.

Fair enough they're slightly similar but it's clearly not the same logo. I think you'll find a lot of photographers who use their name in a particular font with the word photography as their logo.
 
I am not a lawyer, so don't take this a proper legal advice...

An infringement of Trademark would probably be more applicable in this situation than copyright, but that would have required you to register your identifying mark (logo) as your Trademark, which I'm guessing you haven't done.
 
Musicman said:
I am not a lawyer, so don't take this a proper legal advice...

An infringement of Trademark would probably be more applicable in this situation than copyright, but that would have required you to register your identifying mark (logo) as your Trademark, which I'm guessing you haven't done.
Click to expand...

Trademark law likely wouldn't help here either, since the business name is just the person's name + 'Photography', it can't be trademarked in the sense of stopping anyone else using that name. The only trademark protection possible would be for the specific style of the logo - typography, colour and layout. Neither the typography nor colour look the same, leaving only layout, and that would likely be dismissed on the grounds of 'one word under another' isn't special enough to protect.

If you want a logo that you can protect, it has to be a bit more special than 'one word under a name'.
 
its a dangerous route to take anyway - remember a few years back Macdonalds tried to take on a bloke in scotland who was running a cafe named 'macdonalds burgers' - turned out that he'd been trading longer than them :lol: (the same thing also happened between toys r us and a small toy shop in, i think, shropshire )
 
Cheers guys. This is why I ask. I know I don't know everything and it's good to get some advice and ideas from other perspectives before I jump in with both feet and make a tit of myself.


I shall leave it, and take the obvious similarities as a compliment. :D
 
he cant help his name and its the same trade

i dont think its deliberate
 
there are only so many ways three words can be re-arranged. The fonts are completely different also
 
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