Sport team copyright question

[Tygers09]

Hey all, got a question, I'm designing a football team from Hartford. I would like to use the Whalers name and colors;  I know Karmanos owns the rights to the Whalers name and logo ( which I wont use the logo), but does he also owns the rights to the team colors? What can I or cannot use? Note: this is for my own person use, I'm not publicly putting it out because of the legality/ copyrights issues.

[Mingjai]

Your biggest issue is trademark, not copyright. If you really want to say out of trouble, you’re probably going to want to avoid using the name Whalers with the team colors. In trademark, the standard for infringement is likelihood of confusion, so it’s possible that using the name and colors would likely confuse people into in thinking the team is somehow affiliated with the former NHL team. It wouldn’t be a slam dunk case, but it would probably be pretty strong, especially given the uniqueness of the Whalers name as well as the blue-green(-silver) color combination. 

 

Obviously, as you indicate, using the logo, recolored or otherwise, isn’t a good idea from a trademark or copyright standpoint.

[Tygers09]

Ok cool thanks, just wanted a clarify that on the issue. 

[ProfessorBigShots]

If you are using this for personal use why would you care? Just wondering.

[Tygers09]

Just wondering in case I decided to present it out like on here or other scenarios I know what to expect or be aware of.

[MDGP]

7 hours ago, Tygers09 said:

Just wondering in case I decided to present it out like on here or other scenarios I know what to expect or be aware of.

 

If you're designing something for personal use, and you clearly demonstrate that you're not using it to make any profit (and you don't actually make a profit off of it), then trademark law won't apply.

 

You're not attempting to use the Hartford Whalers mark in trade, so you're not really running afoul of anything. Now, if you were trying to start an actual football team called the Hartford Whalers, then you've got problems.

 

In regards to both trademark and copyright sharing your designs really won't be a problem as long as you're not trying to profit. A large segment of these boards is built around concepts of real teams using real logos and names. A professional team isn't going to sue you for that since there's really no actual harm being done to them. (Copyright can apply where you're not trying to make a profit, but nothing you would be doing by posting a concept would trigger any of that.)