proposal to make free the logo of Fedora

Máirín Duffy duffy at fedoraproject.org
Tue Sep 14 18:32:19 UTC 2010


Hi René,

On Tue, 2010-09-14 at 14:21 -0400, Tom "spot" Callaway wrote:
> On 09/14/2010 01:39 PM, René Mérou wrote:
> 
> > So,  my proposal is to change the license of the logo or make one logo (the 
> > same or a new one) in other to consider that logo free as it can be if it is 
> > gpl or cc-by-sa or ... 

> We have had this discussion in the past, but because our logo is
> actually a trademark, Red Hat's legal department has advised us that
> openly permitting modification could put the Fedora trademark at risk.

To also make a bit clear how this threat is real, do a search for "gnome
stolen logo." The GNOME project has for many years now made the SVG
source for their logo freely available (I was involved in creating the
brandbook for them.) This has led to the logo being abused in a number
of ways, including being used as a logo for a company that makes game
controllers in China and various websites and technology-related
companies.

Despite stricter processes in place to help protect the logo, Fedora is
also encountering some issues, see http://paul.frields.org/?p=3362 .

That being said, the Fedora remix mark is under a more open license.
Also our design team right here is very open & transparent and willing
to help with any logo-related issues.

~m



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