G.I. Joe CoffeeLogo Design Contest

Hello! Here are some hints for getting the most out of your contest as it progresses:

~~ You, the Client, are very important! Your active participation is the single greatest factor influencing this contest. Active participation by you, the Client, helps you get the logo design you want!
~~ What's active participation? It's updating the brief with more information for Designers to work with as the contest progresses, providing feedback to Designers on their entries when they're submitted, and ranking designs at least once a day.
~~ When you provide feedback to Designers, you increase the chances of getting the logo you want. More feedback = better results!
~~ Leave private feedback by clicking on a design. Feedback will be made public upon contest completion.
~~ Rank designs at least once each day -- this will encourage Designers to submit more entries!
~~ Ranking prevents your contest from going idle! Active contests attract more Designers.
~~ Ranking gets your contest noticed. Unless your contest is Private, 1st place entries are posted to the portfolio page: https://logotournament.com/portfolio
~~ Please note: if you're asking for a design that will require several hours to create, to attract Designers willing to invest that amount of time the prize should be at least $400-$500. All "Character" style logos fall into this category.
~~ Designers are not offended by "Not Interested." We'd like to know what you don't want so we can give you the design you do want.
~~ The first phase of the contest is the "Open" phase, and everyone can submit during that time.
~~ After your contest's initial "Open" phase closes, it will enter the "Top 5" phase; only the top 5 ranked Designers will be able to submit revisions at that time.
~~ The "Top 5" Designers are the first 5 Designers in a contest, not the first 5 designs.
~~ When "Top 5" ends, the "Judging" phase begins. The Designer of the 1st place design will be the only Designer who can submit revisions at that time.

More detailed information on how to get the most out of your contest can be found here:
https://logotournament.com/forum/general_discussion/17893

You can also look in: https://logotournament.com/forum/contest_holder_discussion



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Question, are you authorized to use G.I. Joe it is trademarked by Hasbro?

Yes, it is not trademarked by Hasbro for products other than toys.
G.I. Joe is a standard name for Government Issue; Joe is the slang name used in the 1940's for coffee; i..e. a Cup of Joe.

The G.I. Joe trademark has been used by Hasbro to title two different toy lines. The original 12-inch line that began in 1964 centered on realistic action figures. In the United Kingdom, this line was licensed to Palitoy and known as Action Man. In 1982, the line was relaunched in a 3¾-inch scale complete with vehicles, playsets, and a complex background story involving an ongoing struggle between the G.I. Joe Team and the evil Cobra Command which seeks to take over the Free World through terrorism. As the American line evolved into the Real American Hero series, Action Man also changed, by using the same molds and being renamed as Action Force. Although the members of the G.I. Joe team are not superheroes, they all had expertise in areas such as martial arts, weapons and explosives.

For example; G.I. Joe's was a privately owned retailer of sporting goods, ready-to-wear clothing, and auto parts, operating in the Northwestern United States. Founded in 1952, the company had as many as 31 stores, located in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. See more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.I._Joe's. They used the name that in no way relates to toys, action figures, enhancements or additions to toys, comics, or action figure moves. Thus, G.I. Joe's was did not infringe upon their trademark.

So do you have copyright of this poster?
http://library.marshallfoundation.org/posters/library/posters/poster_full.php?poster=687

Because you stated on your attachment:

tumblr_lkn1nz6r3a1qbjz0go1_1280.jpg, 175KB
"The Biz eXpress declares they own full copyrights to this file"

The artist was contacted and has passed away. The artwork is over 100 years old which also negates any copyright.

George Willard French was born in Buchanan, Michigan on November 6, 1883, according to this World War I and II draft cards. In the 1900 U.S. Federal Census, he was the second of three children born to Willard and Ella; they lived in Bertrand, Michigan. Nothing is known, at this time, about French's art training. He was a cartoonist with the Chicago American. TheElkhart Truth (Indiana) reprinted his Chicago American drawing of stage actor Richard Carle on January 20, 1909.

See more about him:
http://strippersguide.blogspot.com/2011/07/ink-slinger-profiles-george-w-french.html

And more:
http://www.maine.gov/sos/arc/exhibits/gwfrench.htm

Some of his work:
http://www.atticpaper.com/search.php?pg=1&stext=g.w.+french&sprice=&stype=&scat=

Also, we are using the ad from Alka Seltzer but the "likeness" illustrated by the artist George Willard French.

The only problem here is as members of LogoTournament we cannot copy, trace or create likeness of existing image/person.

I am not looking for a complete trace, I am looking for the style "nostalgic" and the soldier with a canteen cup. Other than that, it is up to you.

Design can be circular, oval, or rectangular; as long as the main elements are included.

Hi Biz eXpress

I think many have shied way from the contest due to possible copyright issues. There are some concerns here. You declare the image as "owning full copyrights" and this is a flaw of LT. Even if an image is public domain, no one individual can then own copyright (again, I assume that LT does not give you an option for this statement.) This may be due to LT having a policy that all logos sold are trademarkable and copyrightable and the contract states that the client will own all rights to what they purchase. Of course this contract would be negated by using someone else artwork or similar artwork.

Then there is the issue that the poster was originally commissioned for Alka-Seltezer and used as an ad. The Alka-Seltzer brand was purchased in its entirety by Bayer Schering Pharma AG and is still very much in business. Use of the image or likeness may require written consent and a trademark disclaimer from Bayer.

In the off chance that the artist George French retained the rights to the artwork, we would need to be certain that his estate or work was not heired to family, a university, museum... or that Mr. French specifically requested that the work be deemed as public domain. (It certainly would not be registered with a Creative Commons unless Bayer did so, since Creative Commons was founded 21 years after Mr. French passed.)

Lastly, assuming that Mr. French did not do the artwork as "work for hire" and he retained full rights and license, never heired his work and/or never decreed it as "fair use" (or public domain). The artwork would not as of yet be in the public domain. The artwork shows a WWII soldier. The US did not enter the war until 1941, so it's safe to assume that the poster was done sometime thereafter. Even if the poster was published as early as 1941, that would mean that the poster would not be in public domain until the year 2036. (95 years after first publication for work done prior to 1978).

You may want to contact admin for further information, additionally a statement from admin here absolving designers from liability would probably benefit you by encouraging more participation.

Hope this helps. Best of luck. :)

Night Owl

Hi All,

Admin is aware of the potential issues here and is in contact with the client. Please review the Designer Code of Conduct.

https://logotournament.com/help/designer/70