Re: Drawings similar to well known products. Copyright problems?

[Brian Thomas Sniffen <bts@alum.mit.edu>]

Aurelien Jarno <aurelien@aurel32.net> writes:

> I should admit that I don't know anything about such copyright law, 
> however I think that as long it is just a drawing without any 
> copyrighted logo, it's not a problem.

A quick look over these pictures suggests no *copyright* problems.
They look like independent creations of some artist, not derived from
the works of Duracell, Bic, or whoever first drew a yellow smiley face.

There may be trademark problems.  For example, Duracell may have a
consider the orange-and-black battery to be trade dress; my
understanding of trademark law is quite limited, but I don't think it
applies to pictures of the trade dress in a different form.

I wouldn't be horribly surprised if the names "hummer" or "rubik" are
trademarks of the companies using them.  I'm not sure what action to
take based on that surmise, though.


-Brian

-- 
Brian Sniffen                                       bts@alum.mit.edu