Legal advice - logo in portfolio

Hello,

I need legal advice. I made render with Hugo Boss bottle and box to the portfolio. I made the logo myself and I wondering if I’m breaking the law by using the logo. Thank you for advice.

Yes, in general you do. Logos, Design Patents etc. usually are reserved for specific use purposes. And those rights are held by the owning companies.
There are edge cases though, but those are specific to countries where the lawsuits are opened.

This is not an easy topic as there are no general rules that tell you exactly how far you can go.

The best advice would be to get in contact with the company and ask for permission.

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If it’s to show your work it’s ok to include your renders into your portfolio.
You can add that it was for a personal project.
It’s like with Fan art, it’s ok to reproduce an existing character even if you don’t have the rights, there is a legal issue if you start to sell these fan art. As long as it’s non-commercial and for your portfolio there is no problem.

You really shouldn’t be getting legal advise on an artists forum - turn to a professional instead.

And FWIW, ‘Fan art’ can be hard to defend. I’d avoid using any copyrighted/trademarked material in your portfolio.

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At least think about putting some: All tradema… and copyr… and logos , are properti… of his owner… on the image. But not this text (it’s mine and i sue you :wink: ) something you get from a legal advisor and NO don’t ask on the internet for anything legal… you have to ask it in you country/nation. And even than have to think where to (digitally) publish… (maybe even this title should be changed to : NO legal advice here? @bartv ?)

I’ll just add a ‘staff highlight’ to my response to emphasis our official position.

Legal clarification via consultation from an IP lawyer alongside incurring an attendant eyewatering fee seems just a tad overkill, in this specific instance, no?

Although with that said, I’d agree in principle but shouldn’t context as well as quality indicate too an audience non-commercial intent or by simply labeling as such. Besides most uploaded CG art content these days, aside from uniquely personalised work, are in fact derivative.

Because, one only has too trawl through showcase boards either here and elsewhere, particularly for example portfolio platforms like ArtStation, to see this perceived excepted creative ‘trend’.

Also might address too a lesser degree, working off of concepts which is another acknowledged self-learning avenue, especially for those starting out that where possible attaining an author’s permission to re-publish a reimaged iteration / interpretation so basically a long established unwritten rule, to do so.

For the most part, trademark owners are most concerned about conscientious use of the all-important(!) ® symbol.

Trademark owners are vexed by the so-called “Doctrine of Laches,” which says that anyone who “sleeps on their rights” can lose them. Therefore, if the trademark-owner used this symbol, use it the exact same way. It also never hurts to include trademark-acknowledgements in your postings or metadata.

Many things, such as “dry ice,” “escalator,” “elevator,” at one time were registered trademarks but were lost: they ceased to be protected because they had entered into the common venacular. Kodak Corporation invented the term, “snapshot,” to keep people from continuing to say that they had “Kodaked” something. I really don’t know how “Velcro®” continues to dodge the bullet, because I’m never gonna call it a “hook-and-loop closure!”

But anyway – “your portfolio” is also a very-clearly non-commercial use of the mark. Just be very careful to depict it exactly as the owner does.