How to Copyright a Logo: Every business wants to protect its brand identity from getting pirated in the market. It is one of the core concerns of many organizations, especially the ones that are surrounded by a lot of competition. Today, brand protection has become a cause of concern in the industry. It is a known fact that if your logo or business name is utilized wrongly, it can do a lot of damage to your brand reputation.
The piracy of logos is one of the common problems many business organizations face regularly. This is something very problematic for them, especially when they have got a good market reputation. It can lead to a quick loss of customers if not dealt with the right protection process.
Fortunately, there is a way available that can secure the identity of logos and business names. As a brand owner, you need to learn how to copyright a logo to firmly secure its identity. It is a standard process that is followed by all the reputed organizations in the world. It provides you complete authority on the logo, so that no one can use it in any wrongful means.
This blog will define the complete copyrighting process in detail. Let’s first understand why copyrighting a logo is important for businesses.
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What is Copyrighting and Why is it Necessary?
We all know how sensitive the topic of online brand reputation is. The success of every company relies on the positive impact on the market. Unfortunately, if their logo gets used deceptively by any competitor, they lose their reputation in the market. That is where the need for copyrighting a logo arises.
It is an official practice that allows you to protect your logo identity firmly. It gives you an authority by law to sue any person or company in the wake of any unwanted logo usage. You can challenge the rights of your logo in the official courts and can demand a penalty to the party who has used the logo wrongfully.
Working in the competitive business world, it has become necessary for every company to copyright its logo. It provides firm protection to their identity and allows them to file an infringement case upon finding the incorrect usage.
The process to copyright a logo is not much lengthy, but requires detailed information about your company and the logo. Generally, there are two methods with which you can copyright a logo. Let’s discuss them in detail below.
How to Copyright a Logo in 7 Steps
If you want to copyright a logo, you need to pick any one method. The first one is by using the online channel, while the second is by going through the manual process. Let’s take a look at the steps below.
1. Use the Symbol
Source: 1000logos
If you are moving to the online copyrighting process, you need to first add the symbol of “C” at the start of your logo. This is also called a standard way to denote that your logo is officially copyrighted. It shows that the logo is your property and can’t be used by anyone in the market.
Meanwhile, some people also use the full wordmark “Copyright” as an illustration of authority. Similarly, some organizations also denote “Copr.” at the beginning of their logo. All of these three practices denote the same copyrighting authority. It is up to you to choose the desired one among them, considering the visual depiction of your logo.
2. Add Date of Publication
Source: Designcrowd
Now, you need to add the date of publication to the logo. This is basically the date on which your logo was first created. For instance, if your logo was designed in 2021, mention it in bold style. This will let the people know about its first publication. Many times, adding a date is also recommended to increase the trust factor in the logo. It ensures that the company is formed in the defined year and is providing quality services for a long time.
3. Add the Name of Publisher
Now, you need to add the publisher’s name to the logo. This will define the ownership of the logo. For instance, if the logo was created for a web design company named Vital Solutions, then it should be mentioned on the logo.
Adding the publisher name also builds trust in the logo. People will know that this logo is owned by the following company, hence it can’t be used somewhere else.
4. Pick the Channel: Online or Manual
As defined above, there are two methods to copyright a logo. You can go for the online process or could choose a manual method depending upon the requirements. If you are going through the online process, go to the official registration portal where you will be given a detailed form.
5. Fill up the Registration Form
You will be given a registration form that will ask for plenty of information about the logo. It will also ask about its relation with the business. This way you can describe how the logo is related to your business and must be protected by the official law.
6. Provide Ownership Details
After entering the initial details, now you need to confirm the ownership of the logo. This is required to endorse that you are the sole owner of this logo and it should not be used anywhere else.
7. Submit the Fee
Once you have filled in all the information about the logo, it’s time to submit the defined fee for copyright registration. This can vary according to the fee structure of different countries and states. For online registration, you can use your debit or credit card to pay the required copyrighting fees.
Final Words
That concludes our entire article in which we have described the core steps of copyrighting a logo. As a brand, it is quite necessary for you to protect your logo identity using the following steps. It will strengthen your authority on the logo, so that its piracy can be ruled out completely. It is up to you to choose the online or manual registration process based on your requirements. The approval time in both of these processes is slightly different, varying to a few days.
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