Id like to start making chevy and ford logos into signs for garages and sell them. Is there any copyright infringements in making signs and selling them or would i need permission? Or am i overthinking it?
That for sure is a rabbit hole. There probably isn’t a company logo that doesn’t have a copyright. You may never get caught.
The way I see it you can’t make enough off of doing them to pay for one lawsuit. Some companies definitely pursue copyright infringement.
According to Ford you need to even run it by them if you’re going to use their logo on a Kids birthday cake.
https://www.corporate.ford.com/about/brands/licensing.html
Some companies like Honda
and Nintendo or more active in protecting their copyrights.
Myself when I make branded metal art it’s usually as a gift.
There’s no signs of Ford actively enforcing their copyrights at such a small scale yet.
Wonder how many people contact ford before making a birthday cake
I wonder how many birthday parties would go by before you herd back from your request to Ford? When I read your comment I thought your use of needing permission for their logo on a birthday cake was just a euphemism. Then I read the policy and lo and behold there it is right there in black and white!
Unfortunately trademark & copyright laws have to be pretty black & white. Nuance doesn’t play well when you’re trying to argue you have maintained control of your IP if you don’t at least have a policy that requires permission to use.
They don’t care & won’t likely take action against your birthday cake (even if they found out about it, they’re likely going to have “not seen” it rather than do anything). But if your cake is being decorated by a commercial bakery, then they’d be forced to act to protect their IP.