n8rfastback

hey guys, i was just thinking about some stuff and was wondering....

is the running pony copyrighted? like can it be reproduced without getting sued? what about the GT scrypt?

i wanna make some cool mustang stuff but dont want to get sued in the process....

thanks guys!!!

JonW

I'm sure both are copyrighted. I can almost guarantee you that the running pony is. If you make stuff for your own personal use, you probably won't get any heat for it. But if you try to sell it, I'm sure Ford's lawyers will be knocking on your door. They seem to be in heavy copyright-infringement-enforcement mode lately.

n8rfastback

hmmm

i was browsing and noticed that the grabberpony ***** have the pony on them....

i wonder how that works?

colbymh

From what I have read on other sites, is your ok if your making something for yourself, but you cant make things to sell as if it was ford really selling it.

spike

You have to get permission from Ford (which means money) if you're going to sell a product with their logo. e.g., George at MGW did that and can use the GT logo as well as the pony. Marcello at SilverHorseRacing did not and can only offer a GT logo that's different. Notice how the MGW site says "Ford Officially Lisenced Product"

Links:
http://www.mgwltd.com/mustang2005_po...let_plug.shtml
http://www.silverhorseracing.com/web...ategory_id=255

Technically it's illegal to reproduce the logo yourself even for personal use. But who's really going to sue you for one item. If you make money off it.. well that's a different story.

JonW

Ford hasn't caught him yet.

spike

Hmmm.. I noticed that grabberpony shift **** says "grabber" directly over (almost touching) the "GT". I wonder if that's their out. There is a copyright law about "recognition" too. Basically, even if the logo isn't exactly the same, if a reasonable person recognizes it as being associated with the original, that's enough to claim copyright (or trademark in this case) infringement.

Dixie_Flatline

And in those iffy situations where reasonable people don't see the resemblance, there's always corporate legal staff held on retainer to defend the fair honor of the beseiged patent holders with a flurry of threats of litigation and cease & desist letters! (there was sarcasm in there....)

Seriously though, Ford goes a long way to foster the immense aftermarket community for their vehicles and obviously has no problem licensing their trademarks. I'd assume Ford needs to review the product internally to make sure it's not something they wouldn't want to be publicly associated with and yes, they will definitely charge license fees that are probably a fixed cost + per unit incremental.

n8rfastback

ouch!!!

that stinks....

i was just thinking maybe like some cool looking drink coasters for the house or something that have "GT" or the pony on them

just some more stang stuff laying around, and if they are fun to make and people like them than i would sell them....

but if im gonna get sued or have to pay ford big money for doing it than no thank you!!!

DarkFireGT

Unless you're intention is to sell it and make money, Ford will not bring suit. If you're making something for personal use, you shouldn't have any problems. I've made plenty of art pieces for my home with different FOMOCO logos. But, I'm not selling them.

n8rfastback

hmm, well i would like to find something that i like to make that people will want too

i may just have to leave out the fomoco stuff

Pitch Black

Anything and Everything is Copyrighted Ford or there respectable owners. A copyright is nothing more than saying, hey I made this and have documented it so you can't use it without permission.
Only reason i know this is i'm taking a class about Social and Legal Issues of Technology and copyright is one of the topics we have been talking about.

i think it was the Black Mustang Club was making some calendars of their own members photos and ford stopped it from happening. It was on Google somewhere.

If you do something using one of the logos for yourself Ford might not bother you, but they can choose to. If you are making any profit from it, you will be owing for a piece of the pie. My Suggestion get permission if your wanting to make a profit off something or it could cost you alot more than you ask for.

n8rfastback

so is it just permission? or do you have to pay them a portion of your profits?

fmgl

Its funny, a few years ago in a Mustang Monthly issuse they had a photo of a guy with the Mustang emblem,red/white/blue bars and all tatooed on his upper chest. It was kinda were you would have a logo on the breast of a t-shirt. That was a few years ago before the big tattoo boom.
That would stink if he had to pay a royalty for a tatoo.....

05GT-O.C.D.

If Ford saw it, they'd probably sue the tattoo artist.

Laser98

Just write ford corporate what their policy is if you want to sell thier copywrited works for a profit. I don't see why everyone here is getting upset when ford wants to protect their copywrited images.

I have some collectable coke bottles and cans from world series and superbowls from the past years and I would never think of taking pictures of them and making a calendar from them to sell. Yes I do own the cans, but I am selling thier copywrited designs for my profit. I would expect Coke to be knocking on my door as well as ford in either instance.

Ford MoCo did not go after BMC, they went after the entity printing the calendars because of a previous infraction. In the end BMC was given permission.

GottaHaveIt

I asked or rather my son noticed the running ponds on my wheels going backward In the opposite side of the car so I wanted them to run the direction the car goes so we went to ask and I was told that yes ford has a copyright on the direction of said pony hence why my sons football buddies had to change thier shirts to go the otet direction as they were selling shirts for the team and thus making a form of a monetary gain so they put the pony the other way and was ok then.