license for pic of tux

[JoeyJoeJo]

The regular picture of tux is speech free, right? As in, if I wanted to include it in a school project, I can't get in trouble for using it, correct? If I remember correctly it's released in the GNU or something similar, correct?

[Icarus]

Correct, Linus technically owns it...but has given rights to anyone that wants to use it

[elderdays]

seen this? tux (http://www.isc.tamu.edu/~lewing/linux/)

[bs_texas]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tux
"Permission to use and/or modify this image is granted provided you acknowledge me lewing@isc.tamu.edu and The GIMP if someone asks."

[rocketpcguy]

Feel free to do whatever you see fit with the images, you are encouraged to integrate them into other designs that fit your need.

"Permission to use and/or modify this image is granted provided you acknowledge me lewing@isc.tamu.edu and The GIMP if someone asks

he is self contradicting? and anyway, everyone uses tux, so don't worry.

[bs_texas]

Originally posted by rocketpcguy
he is self contradicting? and anyway, everyone uses tux, so don't worry.
I don't see that as contradictory.

He says to use it any way you want and if somebody asks about it, acknowledge the source.

[El_Cu_Guy]

Correct, Linus technically owns it...but has given rights to anyone that wants to use it

Larry Ewing holds the copyright on Tux not Linus.

[Parcival]

I'm sorry to tell you guys, but the Tux logo isn't free anymore the way you/we understand it.

In Switzerland, a community member called Martin Brülisauer has registered the word "tux" and Ewing's penguin logo as trademarks while he founded and registered "tux gmbh" as his own company. He has also started the registration process in the European Union and the United States of America; I don't know how far he got there yet. However, for Switzerland he already has the monopoly on the word- and the picture-trademark.

There is a whole mailinglist archive where our local LUG (LugBe, where I'm a member) is debating with Mr. Brülisauer:

http://www.lugbe.ch/vpipermail/lugbe/2004-September/thread.html

This is the message that arose our attention:

http://www.lugbe.ch/vpipermail/lugbe/2004-September/000950.html


As those mailthreads are all in German I wanna quickly sum up the basics for you:

As explained above, Mr. Brülisauer founded his new software company "tux gmbh", and as he was in the process of doing so he checked what legal protection is available. He found out that "tux" and Ewing's logo are no registered trademarks so he initiated the registration process before somebody evil people (think about some from Redmond) would do it first. Now that he has the trademarks he has the monopoly de iure on them, i.e. he (respectively the tux-gmbh company that owns the trademarks) is the only person to make all the calls what should happen with them. He has declared his intentions to work out a reglementation that would allow the community to use the logo and the word tux the way we have always been using it, while the usage would be banned for people from MS and SCO, etc.

Well, so far, so good. However, intensive fighting has started between Mr. Brülisauer and our LugBe because the LugBe thinks it's not okay for a company to register trademarks on something that we see as belonging to everybody in the community - especially Larry Ewing!!! The fighting has gone so bad that we have some sort of "cold war" between Brülisauer and the LUGS (LUG Switzerland): the LUGS owns the word trademark "Linux" for the space within Swiss law applies and threatens Brüllisauer to ban him from using "Linux" if he does anything too restrictive with tux. You see, the nukes are in the silos, good thing nobody fired them yet.

Anyway, last Thursday a friend of mine who's a specialist on trademarks working at the IGE gave a four hour presentation on intellectual property rights. After the presentation it was clear that Mr. Brülisauer has the stronger position as everything he did is absolutely legal. This leaves for the community the following options:

[list=1]
Make peace between the community and Mr. Brülisauer to put all efforts into the creation of a good legal reglement protecting the rights of the community and banning evil attempts. Personally, I think this would be the best solution, but I heard Mr. Brülisauer doesn't feel like talking right now after all the community's flame has rained down on him.
When somebody registers a trademark, one has to put a product onto the market using this trademark within five years. Now we could just hope that Mr. Brülisauer doesn't know this regulation, so the LUGS could register the trademark as registration would be automatically available again after five years - only if there's no product in the meanwhile.
The LUGS could meet Mr. Brülisauer in court making the case that he registered something that is de facto common property like e.g. the word "beer" - it's possible to register "Bud Light" as a trademark, but not "beer". The problem with this strategy is that the LUGS would fully carry the burden of proof and would be required to show that tux and the pinguin logo have become something so ingrained in people's brains that it can be considered common property and not just a brand.
Larry Ewing could meet Mr. Brülisauer in court claiming that Brülisauer violated his copyright. However, doing so Ewing would carry the burden of proof which wouldn't be all that easy either.
[/list=1]

Well, no matter what, the situation is far from satisfactory as de iure Brülisauer currently is the only one in charge of the trademarks. Technically, he could bring every Swiss to court who is using the trademark without his approval, and soon maybe also every EU and US citizen. On the other hand, Brülisauer is just one man and he can't possibly have the use of his trademarks under his surveilance - according to my friend, having professional surveillance on a trademark costs thousands of dollars every year, even if you restrict the surveilance to a small space like Switzerland. In other words, de facto we can still do with the trademark whatever we want as long as Mr. Brülisauer doesn't get to know it.


BTW: in this email (http://www.lugbe.ch/vpipermail/lugbe/2004-September/000964.html) Brülisauer says there is a six months time limit for appeal when registering new trademarks in the US - if you guys accross the ocean don't want him to have it, you/your LUG may still arrive in time to stop him!

[cybertron]

That is soooo not cool. Damn people and their copyright/trademark BS. Tux is not something that should be trademarkable. Grrr.:mad:

[Icarus]

Originally posted by El_Cu_Guy
Larry Ewing holds the copyright on Tux not Linus. Thanks El, that's what I get for going off my failing memory and not looking it up first :p

[bs_texas]

quote:
Originally posted by El_Cu_Guy
Larry Ewing holds the copyright on Tux not Linus.

Thanks El, that's what I get for going off my failing memory and not looking it up first

Uh... isn't that what I said in my first post up there?
(in maybe a round about way)

And it's too early in the morning in Texas right now to read all of Parcival's post on the subject.

[Parcival]

Now Martin Brülisauer has got a website online:

http://www.tux-gmbh.ch/

[bs_texas]

Originally posted by Parcival
Now Martin Brülisauer has got a website online:

http://www.tux-gmbh.ch/
ACHTUNG!! Das sitengehundenerbergielhelt isdt nodtten gehundderrstandentent fer der Texicaneheidener?
:D

[Parcival]

Umm, are you trying to say that NOT everyone in here is a native German speaker? Is justlinux not an abbreviation of Junge Unabhängige Software-Techniker Linuxensis??? :confused: :confused: :confused:

OMG, I've been posting in the wrong forum for two years!!! :eek: ;) :D

[Parcival]

Die Marken "tux" und

Die tux GmbH hat beim "Harmonisierungsamt für den Binnenmarkt" unter den Nummern 3955648 und 3955655 die beiden Marken "tux" und das Pinguin-Logo zur Registrierung als europaweite Marken angemeldet.

Zweck dieser Registrierung ist es, diese beiden Marken für die OpenSource Community zu sichern. Es soll insbesondere grossen Konzernen nicht möglich sein, die Verwendung der beiden Zeichen zu monopolisieren.

Die tux GmbH ist zur Zeit an der Ausarbeitung einer Lizenzbestimmung, welche diese Zwecke ermöglicht und sicherstellt, dass "Trittbrettfahrer" (OSS Fremde), ihren Beitrag an die OpenSource Entwicklung leisten müssen, um von der Bekanntheit der beiden Marken profitieren zu können.

More to come ...


Translation (non-literal for better understanding):

The trademarks "tux" and [insert Larry's penguin here]

The tux GmbH asked for european-wide registration for the trademarks "tux" and the penguin logo at the Office For Harmonization In The Internal Market (registration umbers 3955648 and 3955655).

The purpose of this registration is to save these trademarks for the Opensource Community. Most of all it should be not possible for large corporated groups to monopolize the use of these trademarks.

For this purpose the tux GmbH is currently busy working out the liscencing reglements but also to stop free riders (i.e. OSS aliens) from profiting of the trademarks' high profile without contribution to OSS development.

More to come...

[sharth]

But in the US (atleast) you don't need to register something for it to be a trademark. that just gives it better legal protection.

[Parcival]

Originally posted by sharth
But in the US (atleast) you don't need to register something for it to be a trademark. that just gives it better legal protection.

Well, the same's true overhere. However, one shouldn't underestimate the power of a registration:

Let's say you started your own small business called "foo-entertainment" and after ten years of work you've become pretty successfull, but you haven't registered your trademark yet. Now it would be pretty bad if someone else registered it and starts distributing a similar product to yours under your name, isn't it? Unfortunately, this seems to happen to many young and *****ious startups with low cash at the beginning - and once they got the cash (i.e. have developped a good position in the market) it may be already too late as many eyes have seen their trademark and checked wether it's registered or not already.

Note: if you own a registered trademark, you've got the monopoly on deciding what happens with it. It's one of the strongest privileges one can have.