Re: Using Logos in Wikipedia Articles without pemission

>I'm in a -- discussion -- on Wikipedia about the use of the logo of the
>Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod without their permission. ...

>I'm arguing that it certainly is not fair use and the wishes of the
>copyright holder ought to be respected.

As we all know, there is no bright line about what fair use is, but in looking at the four factors listed in the copyright law, I note that "what the copyright holder says" is conspicuously absent.

So let's look at what the law does say:

Sec 107 lists teaching, scholarship, or research, as examples of fair use. Those all apply here.

In the four factors:

1. purpose and character of use: Wikipedia is definitely nonprofit educational, not commercial
2. nature of copyrighted work: hard to say how it would affect the analysis in this case
3. amount used: if it's just a logo, one can't use less than the whole thing
4. effect on market or value: none that I can see. It's not like it's a "Lutherans are Losers" web site.

So I would have to say that unless there is some contrary case law I'm unaware of, this would be a slam dunk fair user defense.

The usual way one protects a logo is as a trademark, but since churches aren't generally considered commerce, I guess that wouldn't apply either.

R's,
John Received on Sat Sep 30 2006 - 02:02:16 GMT