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I make some polls on my website, like :

What do you prefer Ford Explorer or Toyota 4Runner?

Is such a poll allowed without explicit permission of Toyota and Ford?

Next step:

Can I use their logos?

Next Step:

Can I use car photos? (when I take them from wikipedia and they are copyright free?)

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This isn't a legal support forum. – dnbrv Feb 20 '12 at 13:13
@dnbrv ok, but it is my startup and the question is important. probably you know the answer? thanks – alisia123 Feb 20 '12 at 13:46
It is you startup and it is important for you. This forum is for questions related to startups that are important for many people. – Ross Feb 20 '12 at 14:04
@Ross it is important for many people. there is no way to prove the opposite. thanks – alisia123 Feb 20 '12 at 14:26
"no way to prove the opposite"? Yes, it is important but this is off-topic. Or it seems you don't what to understand what me and dnbrv are talking about. – Ross Feb 20 '12 at 14:29
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2 Answers

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In the United States anyway it is perfectly fine to:

Do survey questions where you mention specific products or trade names. When using terms that are registered trademarks (like Ford and Toyota) it is a good idea to have a footnote on your page to the effect that "Various trademarks appearing on this page are the property of their respective owners."

You can use photos to which you have rights. In the case of photos explicitly placed in the public domain you have been given rights. It is still a good idea, but not required, to give credit to the person who took the photo (caption like "photo by Bill Smith, used with permission").

You can probably use the logos as part of the survey, but this could be a grey area. For this you may want to seek professional advice because if you use them improperly there could be negative consequences.

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Thank you very much! So, when I do the poll without the logos and with footnote you mentioned, then it should be ok? – alisia123 Feb 20 '12 at 14:25
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@alisia123: He isn't a lawyer - he can't give you definite advice. Please seek professional help. – dnbrv Feb 20 '12 at 18:40
up vote 1 down vote

Using logos of the companies is in most instances fine, and falls under the terms of fair use. The use of photos of the cars on the other hand is trickier because unless you are given permission by company, you could be infringing on copyright ownership to those images.

A better solution would be to take photos of the vehicles yourself and then post. Or use a photos of the vehicles from Flickr or Google images with a Creative Commons license that allows for that type of use. You can search images using the websites' advanced search engine. The Creative Commons website can give you tips on how to phrase attribution in the photo credit.

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