On 7/9/06, Daniel Kinzler daniel@brightbyte.de wrote:
Yes - logos appearing in a larger context are OK. Just *how* large that context must be is subject of interpretation... a street scene that contains some logos somewhere is probably ok. A picture showing nothing but a Coca Cola can? Not sure about that.
Trademark, being a lot more context-dependent than copyright is except for fair use / fair dealing, makes things complicated here.
For example, many everyday objects have on them the trademarked logos of their creators. Sometimes very prominently. In addition, the shape of a designed object can be trademarked under some circumstances, and in addition can carry some copyright as well, in addition to such concepts as "design rights".
Thus, pretty much any photograph of a human-made object is not completely free - there are always things that could be protected, and in a world where people increasingly seek legal protection for things, this is going to come up more and more.
-Matt