The Question: Can I legally use company logos on my couponing blog?

Dear BB101, I started a couponing blog and I am unsure about the use of images. I don’t really understand what is legal and what isn’t (besides using my own photos). Since it’s a couponing blog I’ll be discussing many companies and products. Can I use their logos legally? It seems like all the couponing blogs do, but I am not sure they should be. What’s the answer?

The Answer: Yes, you can legally use company logos on your couponing blog.

This is such a great question! Coupon sites are making it easier for consumers to save money and try new products, mostly from the comfort of their homes before ever hitting the stores — or from the convenience of their smart phones while in the stores. How brilliant is that? The fact is, we live in a multibillion-dollar coupon industry. Consumers are spending billions while also saving a ton of money. Just last year, 3.3 billion coupons were redeemed according to Coupons.com.

When I started researching the answer to this question, it seemed appropriate to seek the knowledge of someone who counsels others about all things online, so I asked Lucretia Pruitt, Founder Social Media Matters, for her take on this blogger’s question. She explains the reader is really asking two questions: one is about photo copyright, and the other is about trademark use.

Photos and images on the Internet are subject to copyright laws in the US and other countries, making them somewhat different than logos, brand names, and catchphrases that are registered as trademarks.

According to Pruitt, there are three main types of photos/images you find on the Internet:

1. Copyrighted images have either all or some rights reserved. You must have the copyright holder’s permission to use these images.
2. Public domain images are those that no longer have copyright protection either because they aged out of it (max. 120 years) or for some other reason. Anyone can use these images.
3. Creative Commons (CC) licensed images are copyrighted pictures that the creator has marked using a specific Creative Commons license. The type of license determines how you can use the image. Pruitt boils it down even further explaining that the three elements of a CC license are:

• attribution
• whether or not you can make derivatives (i.e., change or modify the image), and
• whether or not you can use the image for commercial use.

At a minimum, you have to attribute the creator (i.e., Photo by Bob Smith) and include a link. You’ll notice this article has an image at the top of the article. That image was found via the PhotoDropper plug-in for WordPress. That plug-in takes keywords you type in, then searches Flickr for Creative Commons images that match. You can then insert the image into your post and the plug-in creates an auto-attribute (you’ll see the one for the copyright image down at the bottom of this article — it looks like this:  photo credit: gabrieldeurioste).

Pruitt notes, “If you are making money off of [your blog], you will also need to have the work approved for commercial use.” This is important to bloggers because a hobby blogger can use a Creative Commons image that has non-commercial conditions, but bloggers who make money from their blogs cannot.

Sites like Flickr.com and Google’s image search have options to search for Creative Commons licensed & public domain images. Just make sure that you go to the “advanced” search options.

Now back to logos and trademarks. Wikipedia gives a succinct definition of a trademark: “A trademark is typically a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image or a combination of these elements.” Any company (large or small) investing time and money into trademarking their logo will be protective of how their logos are used. As a blogger, when you’re writing about a brand, you will be using their name and other trademarks like their logo under the “Fair Use” doctrine.

Specifically, Pruitt says fair use of a logo or other trademark (not to be confused with copyright) may be asserted on two grounds:

1. You are using the mark to describe accurately an aspect of your own product, or
2. You are using the mark to identify the actual mark owner.

It’s the second one that really applies here. “If you are using say, the logo for ‘Campbell’s ® Chunky ™ Soup’ you’d probably be using it to refer to their actual soup. So what you are doing is covered under Fair Use of a Trademark,” according to Pruitt.

But you’ll note the phrase in quotations above has an ® and a ™ in it. Yes, those two words are trademarks of that company. So when you write about that brand, you should make sure to do it the way that it’s written above. If you’re not sure, it’s better to err on the side of caution and go check the brand’s website. That’s probably where you are getting the logo from in the first place, so it’s just a quick check to see how they refer to the product or brand name.

Trademark and logo use violations are unintentional in most cases. But you don’t want to invite legal action by blatant misuse of a logo or image. A majority of deal or coupon websites seek permission to use a company logo as part of the deal contract.

Any time you are not sure about using a company’s logo or image, ask or consider that perhaps you don’t really need the logo anyway. You can promote a discount or coupon offered by simply using the company name.

Disclaimer: Lucretia and I are not lawyers, but this is our understanding of how it all works. If you need specific legal advice, you should contact an attorney. Better to protect you now than defend you later — or all that money you save using coupons and taking advantage of daily deals could be spent on legal fees.

Thank you to Rajean Blomquist (@rajean) and Lucretia Pruitt (@lucretiapruitt) for researching the answer to this question and sharing their knowledge. — Melanie

photo credit: gabrieldeurioste

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How to Take a Screenshot with Your iPhone

While looking at the screen you want to capture, just click and hold the top power button and the round menu button simultaneously. Your phone will take a picture of the screen and store it in your Camera Roll. Now you can send it, text it, download it, etc.

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• Using Collages to Tell Stories and Share Memories via Pioneer Woman Photography. Jodi Friedman provides lots of examples of collages and links to several collage products and a Photoshop and Elements action that allows you to make your own web-sized template.

• Four Easy Steps to Prepare Your Photos for Web Viewing via I Heart Faces. These are the no-nonsense, full-of-screenshots-so-you-know-exactly-what-to-do instructions for saving your photos the right way for your blog or website. Easy-peasy.

• Get the Yellow Out of Your Photos via Shortpump Preppy. Do your photos all have a bit of color tinge to them? Whether it’s yellow or blue or something else, find out how to quickly fix that with Picnik.com.

• How Do I Optimize Images for the Web? via Blogging Basics 101. I explain what optimizing means, how big your picture file should be, and which extension to use (e.g., .jpg, .gif, or .png).

• 31 Days to a Better Photo via My Three Boybarians. This is the first post in a series that will continue through October. You won’t want to miss Darcy’s advice. Subscribe to her feed so you don’t miss a single day!

photo credit: sicoactiva

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Luckily, a few months ago I attended a local blogger meet up in my city and I won a door prize! The prize was an online presence photography session with a local photographer, Kenny Ruggiano (pronounced rue-JAN-oh), owner of KMR Photography. I wasn’t sure what an “online presence photography session” would entail, so I asked. Kenny suggested it would basically be a headshot — which is awesome if you don’t already have a headshot (but I do). So I suggested the Flavors.me angle and explained that I thought it would be a better option for me if he was game. He was and we brainstormed some ideas.

We met over coffee and discussed my personality (introverted and off-beat), my likes (retro), and my dislikes (fake extroversion). And what I mean by fake extroversion is that I love seeing all those pictures of families at the dinner table who are laughing and babies are crawling on the table and everyone looks loud and at ease. To stage a picture like that of my family would put me over the edge. If you came to dinner at our house, you’d see that it’s a pretty quiet affair and I would not be laughing or at ease with a baby on the table. It’s not me. However, I would be completely OK overdressing for the grocery store and giving you the stink eye while I cram pork rinds in my basket and peruse the organic food aisle. And Kenny got all of that. He talked with me and understood exactly what I was going for. Don’t you love when people get it? Kenny and I came up with this (click to enlarge):

We also took some pictures of me relaxing in my husband’s ’67 Camaro (which really is more my style, but who can resist the hilariousness of the overdressed housewife in the grocery store?):

I’m incredibly happy with how the photos turned out and, in turn, how my Flavors page looks. Kenny was great to work with.

I know I was lucky enough to win my session with KMR Photography, but I want to encourage you to invest some time and money in yourself and your blog as well. Having a good headshot gives you a more professional look than a simple snapshot your friend took. And you can always use a headshot: avatars/Gravatars, your About Me page, your bio for speaking gigs, etc. If nothing else, you’ll look uber-professional on Twitter and Facebook.

I know many of you are thinking you have a digital camera, maybe even a fancy dSLR that takes great shots. Awesome. But you know what? The shots you and I take just aren’t going to be as good as someone who has a degree in photography (did I mention Kenny has a degree in photography? Because he does.). A camera in my hands or my husband’s hands is not going to wield the same power as that camera in a professional’s hands. And a professional is going to be able to massage those photos to hide blemishes and enhance color. If you’re serious about your online image, I encourage you to invest the money in some good photos. A good photographer will sit down with you and talk to you about what you’re looking for and how best to achieve those goals.

If you’re ready to think outside the box, set up an appointment with a local photographer and ask him or her to help you develop an idea for a Flavors page or even your blog’s header. If you’re in Tulsa, you’re in luck! KMR Photography is local and Kenny is fun and easy to work with. I recommend him highly. Give him a call and ask him about his online presence photography and see what you two can come up with.

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• How to Make a Favicon: This is an easy-to-follow tutorial with lots of screen shots to help you through.
• Mysteries of the Favicon.ic0 — How to Create a Favicon in Photoshop: This tutorial is specifically for Photoshop, but I think I followed these directions (oh so many years ago) using Elements. You could probably also use Gimp, which is free.

There are also places online that allow you to upload an image and they’ll make into a favicon for you. There are two things to keep in mind, though: 1.) You’ll still have to insert it into your blog’s template; see the links above for instructions and 2) You should start with a square image for best results.

• Favicon from Pics
• Favicon Generator

As you are deciding what picture or graphic to use for your favicon, remember that it needs to be recognizable at a small (16×16) size. My opinion is that a line drawing or cartoon is usually better for a favicon than a photograph.

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Step 1: Find a Customized RSS Icon

Before we can start, you’ll need to find the icon you want to use. Doing a quick Google search for “free social media icons” will net you some places to start, but for the sake of time, I’ll point you to a list of links for those icons: Mega Collection of the Best Free Social Media Icons for Bloggers and Designers via WPBeginner. That list has over 50 links to designs that will surely speak to you on some level or match your blog more closely than the standard orange RSS button. When you find the one you like, click on the link and you’ll be taken to the page where you can download the icon set. Once you’ve downloaded the icons, make a note of where they’re saved on your computer so you can find them later.

You may find that the images you’ve downloaded are too large for your needs. If that’s the case, you can use an image editing program to re-size the icons.

Step 2: Find Your Feed URL

Now we need to figure out your feed URL. In a previous article I showed you how to set up a Feedburner account for your blog so you could track your subscribers and offer e-mail RSS feeds. Today’s instructions assume you have a Feedburner feed. You’re going to use your Feedburner feed address when we link your new icon.

1. Log in to your Feedburner account.
2. Click on the name of the feed you want to work with.
3. Click on Edit Feed Details.
4. Make a note of the Feed Address (http://feeds.feedburner.com/YOUR_FEED).

Step 3: Put It All Together

Using a Custom RSS Icon with a Blogger Blog

Blogger blogs have a footer that says, “Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)”. This is a link for readers to subscribe to your blog with their feed reader. However, I think you’ll agree that having the subscription at the bottom of the page is not optimal. We want it to be easy and obvious for your readers to find your RSS feed and subscribe. It should be placed at the top of a column for easiest access.

1. Log in to Blogger and click Layout.
2. Click Page Elements.
3. Click Add a Gadget in the sidebar. A new page appears with your Blogger Gadget choices.
4. Scroll down and choose Picture. The Configure Image page appears.
5. Type your Feedburner feed URL into the Link text box. (You can leave the Title and Caption boxes blank.)
6. Choose the image you want to use, either from your computer (if you downloaded the image to your hard drive) or from a URL (if you saved the image to a third-party image host like Flickr or Photobucket).
7. Click Save. You return to your blog’s Layout page.
8. Click Save again.

Using a Custom RSS Icon with a TypePad Blog

1. Log in to your TypePad account.
2. Upload the icon you want to use to your File Manager. Once it’s uploaded, find the name of the icon in the list of files and click on it. Make a note of the URL. You’ll need it in step 4.
3. Go to Library > TypeList and make a new Notes or Links TypeList (either is fine).
4. In the NOTES field type in the following code:
   

   <a href=”http://feeds.feedburner.com/YOUR_FEED”><img src=”IMG URL” alt=”subscribe via rss” /></a>

   Make sure you change “YOUR_FEED” to your actual feed URL. Also
   change “IMG URL” to the URL you noted in step 2 above.

5. Click Save.
6. Click the Publish tab.
7. Click to check the box next to the blog(s) where you want to publish this new TypeList.
8. Click Save Changes.

You’ll most likely need to visit your blog’s Design tab so you can organize your content. Go to Blogs > Design > Content and then you can drag and drop the new TypeList to the sidebar position you want. Be sure to save your changes so they aren’t lost.

Using a Custom RSS Icon with a WordPress Blog

If you’re using WordPress.org as your blogging platform, I strongly suggest you set up an intuitive filing system for FTP. For instance, you may want to have a folder called images where you place all your icons and pictures. A filing system that makes sense to you will help you find what you’re looking for quickly and easily.

1. FTP the icon you want to use to your images folder (or wherever you upload your images). Make a note of the image’s URL (e.g., http://www.blogname.com/images/rss.png); you’ll need it in step 6.
2. Log in to your WordPress.org account.
3. Go to Appearance > Widgets.
4. Drag and drop a new Text widget into your sidebar.
5. Type a title for your widget (e.g., Subscribe to RSS) in the Title text box or leave it blank.
6. Type the following code into the larger text box:
   

   <a href=”http://feeds.feedburner.com/YOUR_FEED”><img src=”IMG URL” alt=”subscribe via rss” /></a>

   Make sure you change “YOUR_FEED” to your actual feed URL. Also change “IMG URL” to the URL you noted in step 1 above.

7. Click Save.

More helpful RSS articles:

• Author and Permalink FeedFlare (proof of original source for SEO) by Amanda Fazani at Blogger Buster
• Are You Making Your Life Easier by Using RSS by Sue Waters at EduBlogger
• How to Remove a Category from Your WordPress RSS Feedburner Feed by Adria Richards at But You’re A Girl

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• How to Use Video to Jump to the Top of Google Search Results via TechCrunch. “Google has given over more and more of its search results real estate to “blended” search results, displaying videos and images towards the top of the first page, and pushing down—and sometimes off the page—traditional web results that would have otherwise competed for top rankings.”

• Design a Prettier Web Form with CSS 3 via Nettuts+. “By following this tutorial you will not only end up with a lightweight and beautiful form, you’ll also learn and understand new CSS3 techniques, such as box-shadow, gradients, opaque colors, and rounded corners.”

• Web Resizer Shrinks Your Photos to Bandwidth-Friendly Sizes via Lifehacker. “Upload a photo to Web Resizer and you can not only resize the image to smaller dimensions, but tweak its appearance and image quality. You can round the corners or leave them square, add a border, crop, rotate, sharpen and adjust the image quality to push the image size down even further.”

• 5 Copyright Steps to Take Before Launching Any Site via Plagiarism Today. “If you value your content, its worth taking some time before launching to make some adjustments and make sure that your work is protected. Doing so will not only help you enforce your copyright, but also track where it appears on the Web, legitimately and unlawfully, letting you better understand your audience and reach.”

photo credit: mallix

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• Win a Copy of TypePad for Dummies and a Year of TypePad! via Blogging Basics 101. Today’s the last day to enter to win a copy of the book I wrote with Shannon and free year of TypePad.

• The Camera LOVES Ya Baby! via feathers, freesia, and fishing tackle. This article shares some tips on using your digital camera. I keep thinking I’d like to take more pictures and learn this stuff. Then I realize I have more work to do and no free time. I offer this article in the hopes that someone will take pretty pictures and inspire others since it’s clearly not in my cards.

• Photoshop Tutorial: How do I maintain proportion and scale when I resize my images? via Life with My Three Boybarians. My friend Darcy is a whiz with Photoshop and she’s extra awesome because she shares her knowledge. Now that you’re taking awesome pictures with your camera (see link above), Darcy will show you how to make sure you aren’t making them wonky on your blog.

• Tiled Background Designer. This is an easy little tool that will help even the design-challenged (like me) create a quick background for your blog. I’ve found this can be a quick fix until a real designer can step in and fix things up.

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• 8 Excellent Tools for Optimizing Your Images via SixRevisions

• How to Build a Successful Email Newsletter via ProBlogger

• HOW TO: Take Advantage of FriendFeed’s Unique Features via Mashable

• The Importance of Following Directions When Applying for a Blogging Job via Blog World Expo Blog

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What would the web be without freebies? If you are just starting to make your own buttons and banners and buying graphics software is too spendy, you can definitely find some free options to get you started.

(I’m going to point you to places where you can download free software; however, please understand that I am not personally endorsing any of this software–except Elements, which I own–or any of the downloads. As with anything online, please use caution when downloading.)

• About.com has a list of free graphic software that will jump-start your creative juices. They give mini reviews and screen shots of 10 free software applications.
• Gimp is a brand that I have heard of, but have not personally used.
• FreeSerifSoftware
• I think most operating systems come with some sort of Paint program. You probably have a free graphics program on your computer right now! You can definitely see what you can do with that.

As you become more comfortable making your own buttons and banners, you may want to go ahead and buy software.

• Adobe Photoshop is amazing, but unless you’re a professional graphic artist, I don’t think you need to have it. Besides, it’s very spendy at about $700.
• Adobe Photoshop Elements is the answer for those of us addicted to making our own graphics and fiddling with our photos, but want something less expensive than full-blown Photoshop. Elements retails for about $100. However, I’ve found it for less just by searching various sites online. I received Elements 4.0 (I think they’re up to 6.0 or 7.0 now) bundled with the Bamboo tablet for Christmas and I think it was about $80. As an aside, I’ve found the 4.0 version to be great for me.
• Corel PaintShop Pro is another program that is popular.

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