Quote:
Originally Posted by Libby K
Not unless the OP has asked FIRST already (and as a summer intern for marketing, I can pretty safely say that he has not.)
http://usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/...logo+standards
" FIRST graphics may not be incorporated into any item for commercial sale without written approval from FIRST Marketing. Please e-mail requests to marketing@usfirst.org and allow at least 2 business days for response."
That page also has the FIRST branding and design standards listed. matt99199, if you could adhere to those with your signs (after you contact FIRST, of course), that would be lovely...not to mention legal.
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Being nice to FIRST is absolutely a best practice—but it's important to distinguish what's a request on their part, and what's a legal requirement. Those documents linked above (including the logo standards manual) are, at least in part, wishlists.
For example, not italicizing the name "FIRST" has no implications under copyright law, and minimal ones under trademark law. It could conceivably make FIRST (and therefore Libby) angry, but what are the odds of that? (If you're bound by a particular contract with FIRST, you may be subject to additional requirements.)
More pertinently, when they say "
FIRST graphics may not be incorporated into any item for commercial sale without without written approval from
FIRST Marketing", despite the implication, that's not necessarily the only way to legally use FIRST's copyrighted artwork and registered marks. That's just their preferred channel for making a request for permission. (Permission from someone like a corporate officer would probably be sufficient under the law, and copyright fair use requires no permission at all.)
Despite all the legal technicalities, the easiest thing to do would still be to ask FIRST for permission: once they're satisfied, you're in the clear.