Generally speaking logos are trademarks, they may not be "registered" trademarks with the USPTO, but they are still protected by "common law" (droit commun, comme le droit coutumier) even if statutory protection has not been afforded, and even if someone else files to use those as trademarks WMF can then oppose their use if they can prove that the foundation was using that logo as a trademark prior to the filing of the third party. I think the issue is: are all marks (logos, wordmarks, or any other trade dress that might identify WMF projects and activities) copyrighted by the foundation, as it seems to me that there is a controversy about who, if anyone owns the copyright of some WMF logos (such as the MediaWiki logo) are they public domain (since they are generic) or are they GFDL/CC (as that is what every author agrees to when they upload their content to WMF servers. If the later is true the question is: does fair use under trademark law constrict the rights granted under any open source license that might allow copying, but not in relation to "in commerce" use of the mark or under any applicable "anti-dillution" law in any relevant jurisdiction that might apply if someone uses these marks in a way that confuses end users or consumers as to the origin of any work that uses the logo.

Alex T. Roshuk

----- Original Message ----- From: "florencedevouard" anthere@anthere.org To: "Legal issues of Wikimedia (closed subscription)" juriwiki-l@wikimedia.org Cc: "Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List" foundation-l@wikimedia.org; "Communications Committee" wmfcc-l@mail.wikimedia.org Sent: Sunday, December 03, 2006 7:58 PM Subject: Re: [Juriwiki-l] Commons reuse FAQ updated

| Wikimedia Foundation Logos | The Wikimedia Foundation logo and logos for particular projects (such as | Wikipedia and Commons) are trademarks of and copyrighted by the | Wikimedia Foundation. They are not generally available for other uses, | though reuse in press or media about Wikimedia projects is explicitly | permitted. Local "fair use" or "fair dealing" laws (e.g. for academic or | critical purposes) may also apply in your jurisdiction. | | I'll be careful about that. | In particular, not all logos are trademarked by the Foundation. Maybe a | twist could be made to the text to make a reference to trademarks, | whilst not claiming all are tms ? | | --------- | | I otherwise moved text around in what seemed to me more clear. I hope it | is fine. Please change it back or discuss it if you do not agree. | | Ant | | PS: ey, good job David. I guess we are very near having a good page, to | be translated, for content reuse. | | | | David Gerard wrote: | | > http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Reusing_content_outside_Wikimedia | > | >I've tweaked this and filled it out a bit. It's hard writing about | >legal issues in very simple grammar; I'd like juriwiki-l in particular | >to look over this and check that I haven't oversimplified, | >particularly in the "how to comply with this licence" sections. | > | >The only section that hasn't been written yet is content under | >GPL/LGPL - anyone think they can write two simple sentences on how to | >comply with this licence? | > | >It should probably also be merged with the similar page on meta. | > | > | >- d. | >_______________________________________________ | >Juriwiki-l mailing list | >Juriwiki-l@wikimedia.org | >http://mail.wikipedia.org/mailman/listinfo/juriwiki-l | > | >This email and its attachments are strictly intended for use and viewing by the sole addressee(s) on the juriwiki-l mailing-list. | > | > | >They cannot be published outside of this list without the prior authorization of their author(s). | > | >They may contain legally privileged and/or confidential or proprietary information. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, or this email has been sent to you through inadvertence, mistake or negligence, or you have otherwise received this email without the knowledge, authority and consent of the sender, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, forwarding, distribution or copying of this email, and/or any attachments is strictly prohibited. If you believe you have received this email in error, please immediately notify the juriwiki-l mailing list by writing to juriwiki-l@wikimedia.org and permanently delete the original email and any attachments and discard any copies or printouts of this email and any attachments. | > | > | > | | _______________________________________________ | Juriwiki-l mailing list | Juriwiki-l@wikimedia.org | http://mail.wikipedia.org/mailman/listinfo/juriwiki-l | | This email and its attachments are strictly intended for use and viewing by the sole addressee(s) on the juriwiki-l mailing-list. | | | They cannot be published outside of this list without the prior authorization of their author(s). | | They may contain legally privileged and/or confidential or proprietary information. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, or this email has been sent to you through inadvertence, mistake or negligence, or you have otherwise received this email without the knowledge, authority and consent of the sender, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, forwarding, distribution or copying of this email, and/or any attachments is strictly prohibited. If you believe you have received this email in error, please immediately notify the juriwiki-l mailing list by writing to juriwiki-l@wikimedia.org and permanently delete the original email and any attachments and discard any copies or printouts of this email and any attachments.