Logos: to Inc. or not to Inc.

Aspect Law Group is collaborating with Design Week Portland for a column called "Creatives Ask a Lawyer". Head over here to find out more. Q: "Do logos need to display ‘Inc’ or ‘LLC’? I have a client that has been told by his lawyer that his logo has to have ‘Inc’ somewhere in it. I have run into this many times, as well as clients insisting that they have to have the ‘LLC’ in the logo. All the information on the web says that it is not needed on the actual logo, but must be on trademark and corporate filings."

You can read the full post and answer to this question on the Design Week Portland tumblr.

In the post, I cover trademark law basics, business law, and general business practices issues. The short answer is that logos do not need to have the business designation but certainly can, and business should use their full legal name when conducting business.

Thanks for the question!

Notice: This post is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice based on a review of individual circumstances. Please contact an attorney regarding your particular legal issues.

Creatives Ask a Lawyer

Aspect Law Group is working with Design Week Portland to bring you "Creatives Ask a Lawyer"! From DWP:

Do you know when you need a contract? Or how to register a trademark? Bryan Wasetis from Aspect Law Group works primarily with artists, designers, and makers on issues we face, like licensing and protecting intellectual property.

He's here to answer all of your burning legal questions and will be working a few responses into a column on our blog.

You can send us questions through Twitter or email.

Keep an eye out for our answers!

Video Painting and Copyright

Video painting is an intriguing art form that utilizes technology, photography, video, and performance art. I have always been a fan of works like these due to their transient nature and surrealist elements. Beyond the shear beauty that comes out of it, the copyright implications are also fascinating. On the one hand there is the copyright in the performance art itself as it is being recorded, but there are also the rights to the pictures, videos, accompanying music, art and design elements, and possibly the code written for the software. Just another good reason to make sure you know who owns what, and which elements you may need to license.

Check out this excellent recent installation by SWEATSHOPPE:

From the creators of the work:

"Video painting is a technology the duo developed that allows them to create the illusion that they are painting videos onto walls with electronic paint rollers they built. It works through custom software that they wrote that tracks the position of the paint rollers and projects video wherever they choose to paint, allowing them to explore the relationship between video, mark making and architecture and create live video collages in real time."