Logo Copyright Test
In order for a logo to be registered as a copyright, it must contain “original authorship”
and contain something more than letters, numbers, standard shapes and so on.
Take, for example, the logo for Mill City Press. If this was submitted to the US
Copyright Office, it would be rejected since it is mostly words (despite that the
letters are shaped a certain way and are in different colors).
The logo for Mac's Big Nuts was accepted by the US Copyright Office because it contains
a lot of original authorship (we know because we filed this one). However, the name
“Mac's Big Nuts” is not protected by copyright law. In order to protect the name,
this person would have to file a trademark. So, the picture is protected under copyright,
but not the name.
Only logos with substantial amounts of original authorship should be submitted for
copyright protection. If your logo is a type treatment and does not contain enough
original authorship, the US Copyright Office will not provide copyright protection.