Blog Post Four

I get excited when I come up with neat taglines, slogans and a like. There is something about the flash of brilliance and cleverness that feels good. I believe other people share this sentiment from time to time. Some clients have shared these experiences and asked me if they can copyright a similar slogan, tagline or the like. Perhaps they want to put the tagline on a t-shirt.

Unfortunately, the Copyright Office’s threshold for original works of authorship generally don’t extend to names or taglines. Even if it is on a t-shirt. A short poem might be accepted by the Copyright Office but a short tagline and the like almost certainly will not.

Fortunately for the clever person, trademark protection might be an appropriate avenue. Of course, as discussed here, the clever individual who created the tagline will need to use that name or tagline in commerce to establish trademark rights. Simply identifying the name or tagline won’t be sufficient.

Also, just because a name or tagline isn’t protectable via copyright protection, that does not mean that a logo isn’t protectable. Logos are one example of an intellectual property asset that may be subject to two or more IP rights. That is a logo can be protected by trademark if used in commerce in connection as a source identifier for a business or source of goods and services. And the logo might be subject to copyright protection if it is sufficiently creative and exhibits sufficient originality and authorship. Be aware, as discussed here, even logos must have a sufficient level of originality. If a logo is limited to very simple and/or common shapes or geometric figures, the logo may not be protectable by way of copyright. The logo illustrated below probably would not satisfy a copyright examiner and be eligible for copyright protection.

However, if perhaps the yellow triangle above had a textured look to it and/or other artistic elements, it might rise to the level of sufficient creativity and originality.