I am currently building a professional website for services for my spouse. His work has been featured in many magazines and newspapers, inte...

Question

I am currently building a professional website for services for my spouse. His work has been featured in many magazines and newspapers, internet, and web shows. How do I go about legally using these images on his site as well as the logos you see many advertise "Featured in" as law guru uses as well. Is the usual way simply contacting them asking for permission to use and will they usually send their image file they choose for me to use? Thank you.

Answer

Stating that you were featured in X, when you were is perfectly fine. This falls under the category of nominative fair use. Where you should draw the line is to use "no more than what is necessary" to express that point. That is, you do not need to use any company's logo to make that statement, although it grabs visitor's attention and looks better...I understand.

That said, I would not have a problem doing so because in context this is not the kind of thing that any of these companies are really policing for and no one is going to sue you on account of that kind of use. And we all know there are countless companies doing so and it is not even clear in all federal district courts whether that would even be actionable. You are much more likely to just receive a cease & desist letter and if you do just comply. Further, if you are using logos for this from a number of companies you further mitigate any claims because it is less likely any one company will be able to argue market confusion or false association when they are just one of several logos used.

In sum, potentially actionable, but not realistically so in my opinion.

You may want to consult a lawyer in private if you have further concerns.

If you would like to discuss further over a free phone consult, feel free to contact me anytime that is convenient.

Kind regards,

Frank

www.LanternLegal.com

866-871-8655

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DISCLAIMER: this is not intended to be specific legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. No attorney-client relationship is formed on the basis of this posting.