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Do it yourself logos & Flash generators. Wanted to take a look at these so-called ‘do-it-yourself’ logo generator websites popping up all over the internet. Perform a ‘logo design’ keyword search on any search engine and you’ll invariably bump into these flash-driven web sites, promising you variations of logo satisfaction - all you have to do is select an icon from their library of clip art (oh yes they are), type in your company name and Bob, as they say, is your Uncle. Here’s a few top-ranked versions that I’ve snagged from a Google search.
Click on the links and you’ll find helpful folks claiming that anyone can design a logo for free (though the ‘free logo’ bit is linkbait - something that's designed to get you to click on the link), paying only $39, $49 or $99 to own it. Certainly reads like a deal. But as Mother always told us, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Upon closer inspection, these sites aren’t selling ‘logo design’ at all. They’re simply making a library of clip-art icons (some good, some not so good) available via a web site (rather than those cumbersome clip-art books of days gone by). Here's how it works - you add your company name using public domain fonts (though some seem to be using fonts that should be licensed), and then download the so-called ‘customized’ design. Common sense should tell us that changing the size of artwork is not customization. Neither is flipping, flopping or changing the colors. This is simply the internet era version of clip art with a hi-tech, Flash-driven & web-based distribution system. And while these sites claim that their services do not sell ‘clip art’, by the every definition of the concept, they most certainly are. Let's go down the check list....
Turns out that's the clinical definition of clip art. One even goes on to outline their ‘design process’ thusly -
That’s almost verbatim how I’d write a ‘five step how to use a clip art in your logo’ feature. And these sites are using the same verbiage to claim that their wares aren't clip art. There’s more serious concerns too. If you read the fine print - usually found in the ‘legals’ page, 5 monitors deep and written in 9pt type - you’ll see that they’re not even sure if the designs that they’re selling are theirs to sell, even when offered in the context of clip art. Accordingly, they’d like you to police the intellectual property rights of their artwork, and if you run into any legal issues, please drop ‘em a line. Some of the 'terms' are downright frightening.
Wow. If one of their many pre-fab icons (one site claims 10,000, another 15,000) just happens to infringe on someone else’s copyright and/or trademark, they'd like you to let them know. Not a word about what might happen to someone who’s already downloaded the supposedly ‘customized’ logo and are happily reproducing it on every shred of business and marketing material they own. In case you were wondering about what responsibility these ‘Do it yourself logo ’ sites have, the disclaimer of one clearly states quite clearly what responsibility they’ll ultimately own up to. None.
Legally, they're telling you that they're under no obligation to insure that any logos they're selling are original, or even legit for you to use. They’re not even claiming that they own the icons in the first place. And when you buy one of these logos, how much of it do you actually own? Nothing.
'Possible use’ is legalese that means the do-it-yourself site is retaining the rights to sell their library of logos to someone else. That includes the logo you've just purchases. And one can safely presume a lot of someone else’s. It could be argued that these sites view the small business owner as a fool who’s not supposed to realize that this method of ‘logo design’ is suspect, and not supposed to realize that a logo is supposed to be original. They claim that they’re not selling clip art logos (which they very much are) and, unfortunately, that simple claim probably works on 95% of their targeted audience who may not fully understand what clip-art actually is. The small business owner probably figures they’ve just saved $100s, or $1000s, of dollars on their corporate identity using this newfangled ‘do it yourself‘ technology. It gets even worse. On one of the FAQ sections on these sites, visitors have supposedly, and repeatedly, asked the following question - “Can I trademark my logo?” The answer goes something like this...
They go on to claim that you can trademark what they describe as the ‘customized version’ of their icon. The ‘customization’ described is a misnomer - nobody is actually ‘customizing’ the logo but merely adding type to it. Or changing the color. And while I’m Not A Lawyer, especially one of the trademark variety, and my legal opinion is worth what you’ve paid for it, the last time I looked, ’spacial relationship’ had very little to do with logo trademark. For example, try telling the Trademark Office that it’s okay for you to use the Apple icon because it’s further away from the text than the original. Further, color has absolutely nothing to do with it (as far as I’m aware, most TM registration documents are in BW) unless its specifically mentioned in the registration application. Keep in mind that a trademark can be turned down if one design is even remotely similar to another. If you did manage to jump through the hoops required to get a trademark on one of these icons, are you going to sit back while 10s, or even 100s, of other companies use the same symbol that you've just spent thousands of dollars to trademark? I don't think so. So why would you expect someone else, who just happened to get a TM on the same icon you're using, sit back while you use their logo?
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