Possible Copyrighted/Trademarked content in BM

navand · July 4, 2019, 8:12pm

I found two things that made me wonder. Now that BM is being sold it could be an issue. Both can be seen in these screenshots.

USPS logo. In their site titled Entertainment-Related Trademark & Image Use, it states “Want to use a U.S. Postal Service® trademark or image in your film or other media or do you wish to film on U.S. Postal Service premises? […] All requests for use of the U.S. Postal Service logo and other trademarks […] must be reviewed by the Rights and Permissions office.” I think there’s fees involved too.
Windows desktop with windows “My PC” and “Recicle Bin” icons and a Mozilla Firefox icon. I’m not sure if Firefox’s icon can be used in commercial works, but I suspect windows icons might bring trouble.

Enjoying your jungly Xen, btw.

NorwegianboyEE · July 5, 2019, 5:32am

Oh no, god forbid these brands receive some free marketing…

_rot_fodder · July 5, 2019, 5:41am

Perhaps it may have been more prudent to PM the devs about a potential issue rather than post it publicly.

navand · July 5, 2019, 6:00am

I was going to post it in the steam discussion forum but remembered this place existed. Didn’t think about PMs at all. Haven’t been here since 2010 and have no idea who to even PM. Anyway just a goodwill post in case it matters.

CPU · July 5, 2019, 3:42pm

@nevand You’re interpreting the laws incorrectly. Use of a product in production is not a violation, use of a logo or trademark is. They are two separate things. Under your interpretation a company would have to pay fees for every car shown in a film, every tire manufacturer on every vehicle, every gas station and restaurant, every plane shown in the sky, every shoe worn by everyone etc., etc., etc.
Edit: url added for legal reference.

navand · July 5, 2019, 5:34pm

That contradicts what the USPS website seems to imply, but me being wrong is the best case scenario here, so cool. I started to wonder when I saw that b/w shrodinger cat photo (turns out it’s public domain). If the photo had been, say, a non-paid for stock photo, it would be a problem. I guess I just assumed logos/icons would be similar.