[Qgis-psc] Trademark issues

[Andreas Neumann]

Hi,

Although I am not on the PSC and have no formal vote on the PSC I would 
like to raise my personal concerns about this 
trademark/permission/sublicense thing.

I think it would open a lot of unnecessary bureaucracy that noone is 
interested in (neither us or the sublicensee) if all users of the QGIS 
name or logo will have to issue a sub-license. Can't we just use our 
trademark in cases of misuse?

Also think about what it means: every company that offers QGIS support 
(I think there are now at least 30-40 companies) would have to ask for a 
sublicense. Then every book author, blog poster, local QGIS user group, 
non-profit organizations, etc. This opens a can of worms. Are we really 
interested in this bureaucracy?

I also don't think it is productive to ask for a sub-license fee - would 
you want to pay a fee for your company to make use of the name and logo? 
I am very sure you will annoy people and organizations. Paolo, you also 
have logos on your company webpage (e.g. 
http://www.faunalia.eu/en/dev.html) - did you ever have to ask one of 
these projects (Postgis, GRASS, GDAL, etc.) for permission to use their 
logo?

Can we please rethink the decision that most organizations need 
permission to use the QGIS name and logo - also the idea of a 
sub-license fee?

I may have misunderstood things though - in which case I apologize.

Thanks,
Andreas


On 09.10.2014 19:56, Anita Graser wrote:
> On Thu, Oct 9, 2014 at 7:09 PM, Paolo Cavallini <cavallini at faunalia.it> wrote:
>> IMHO it is perfectly reasonable to as for a fee for sublicencing, in case this is
>> appropriate; of course it does not make sense for free services.
>> That's why I suggested to establish a general frame, and proceed on a case by case basis.
>> All the best.
> Ok, so there are two issues for clarification:
> 1. We might want to be able to charge for sublicencing. What should be
> the rules?
> 2. Do all people who provide free services (e.g. video tutorials on
> Youtube) have to get a sublicense?
>
> Best wishes,
> Anita
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