Filming at a Franchise

sfoster

sfoster

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There is a frozen yogurt shop nearby and I'm really friendly with the owners.
I want to ask them about filming a small scene the the shop, but I am concerned since they are only a franchise and do not own the brand name.

For example if they owned one mcdonalds, would I be allowed to include the mcdonalds logo and everything in my short film.. Somehow i think not?

If I cannot, how difficult is it to remove the logo in post? There are these big colored stars with the name in the middle, a simple fill with a low tolerance would do the trick in a photo editing program.

Do I have to film in a certain restricted way? i.e. stable tripod shot without anyone moving in front of the logo section?

I haven't yet invested in a real editing program like fcp so i can't just open it up and tinker around.
 
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The first question to think about when dealing with a trademark is "Am I using this other person's mark to sell a competing product?"

Trademarks are designed to protect CONSUMERS from
Market confusion by limiting the ability of competitors to brand their goods with a mark that identifies the owners goods or services.

There are additional questions in regards to marks involving a logo as artwork or design elements MAY BE copyrighted as well. You can't copyright a word, Xerox can't prevent me from
using the word Xerox in this online conversation for example, but they COULD preclude me from using the term Xerox to sell photocopiers as that is one of their product lines.

Now to be on the safe side, especially when potential copyrights in the artwork of a logo are also potentially involved it is better not to use the mark WITHOUT permission from
the mark owner; however, there are examples when using a competitors mark is FAIR USE under both copyright and trademark law, AT LEAST IN THE UNITED STATES. In this day and age IP issues are generally international, especially when dealing with the Interwebs. Back to our fair use discussion: the classic example, McDonald's versus BK and the Pepsi challenge wherein a brand like McD's or Pepsi use a competitor's mark and products in a comparison. This is essentially, nominal as in naming usage to correctly identify a competing product and has been held to be a fair use.

These are just general ideas on the subject and specific situations may very, but IT NEVER HURTS to ask for permission as free press and promotion is not something most businesses try to avoid.

I don't play a lawyer on TV and I'm only licensed in New York and this is in no way meant to establish any kind of client relationship, but is a post provided purely for some modicum of educational purposes.
 
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lintfilms said:
The first question to think about when dealing with a trademark is "Am I using this other person's mark to sell a competing product?"

Trademarks are designed to protect CONSUMERS from
Market confusion by limiting the ability of competitors to brand their goods with a mark that identifies the owners goods or services.

There are additional questions in regards to marks involving a logo as artwork or design elements MAY BE copyrighted as well. You can't copyright a word, Xerox can't prevent me from
using the word Xerox in this online conversation for example, but they COULD preclude me from using the term Xerox to sell photocopiers as that is one of their product lines.

Now to be on the safe side, especially when potential copyrights in the artwork of a logo are also potentially involved it is better not to use the mark WITHOUT permission from
the mark owner; however, there are examples when using a competitors mark is FAIR USE under both copyright and trademark law, AT LEAST IN THE UNITED STATES. In this day and age IP issues are generally international, especially when dealing with the Interwebs. Back to our fair use discussion: the classic example, McDonald's versus BK and the Pepsi challenge wherein a brand like McD's or Pepsi use a competitor's mark and products in a comparison. This is essentially, nominal as in naming usage to correctly identify a competing product and has been held to be a fair use.

These are just general ideas on the subject and specific situations may very, but IT NEVER HURTS to ask for permission as free press and promotion is not something most businesses try to avoid.

I don't play a lawyer on TV and I'm only licensed in New York and this is in no way meant to establish any kind of client relationship, but is a post provided purely for some modicum of educational purposes.
Click to expand...

I see this is your first post.
Hello lint films :cool:
 
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