Logo design and the law
There’s legal ramifications (yes, I felt very fancy typing that word) to having a logo designed that doesn’t meet certain legal criteria.
Here’s a list of things to look out for so you don’t risk ending up in hot water.
→ Fonts
Whenever I design a logo for my clients I ensure the font is licensed for commerical use first. This license is either covered with my Adobe Typekit subscription, or it’s a free for commercial use Google font.
Neither are guaranteed to be free forever, but both Google and Adobe will communicate in good time if the free license changes and you need to now purchase one.
If the designer you hire uses a font that isn’t in Adobe Typekit or Google you NEED to make sure that:
The designer has paid to license the font for commercial use
You then get your own license for the font, that covers you and anyone else in your organisation
→ Ownership
I’ve never been precious about handing over ownership to a logo design once I’ve been paid to create it, but some designers are and this can cause you issues further down the line (like if you try to trademark it). Check your designer’s contract regarding the intellectual property rights to your logo before signing, and push for full ownership once final payment has been made. For the designers reading this – you can still state in your contract:
That the logo is not to be altered in anyway without the original designers written permission
That you have the right to showcase the work and claim it as your own original work
→ Originality
This is where Canva logos really fall down – if you’re applying for a trademark to protect your brand, your logo design is the key visual you’re protecting. If it looks like millions of other logos out there (which canva logo designs do) then that logo can’t be said to be unique to your brand. This will likely lead to your trademark application being rejected.
Furthermore on the benefits of hiring a reputable designer to create a bespoke mark - logos which contain original artistic elements are protected automatically under copyright law as an artistic work. To be protected by copyright, the logo should be an original design and creative. If your logo qualifies as a protected artistic work, you have exclusive rights, including the right to reproduce it and prevent copying.