No copyright for American’s logo
Even after a go-around, American Airlines couldn’t clear the relatively low threshold to copyright its logo adopted in 2013, the U.S. Copyright Office’s review board has ruled.
“A mere simplistic arrangement of non-protectable elements does not demonstrate the level of creativity necessary to warrant protection,” Catherine Zaller Rowland, senior adviser to the register of copyrights, said in a five-page explanation.
The airline already has the image trademarked to prevent another U.S. carrier or tourism entity from using the image. But a copyright would have offered longer and broader protection internationally, if it were approved.
“We have reviewed the copyright office’s decision and are working to determine our next steps,” airline spokesman Matt Miller said.
The logo looks like a white eagle’s head poking through a diagonal swoosh with blue on top and red on the bottom. The carrier adopted the image after combining with U.S. Airways to become the world’s largest airline.
American filed June 3, 2016, to register the logo. It was rejected in October. American requested a reconsideration, arguing that the logo “far exceeds the extremely low level of creativity required to sustain a copyright claim.”
But the copyright board’s decision Jan. 8 repeated a longstanding requirement set forth in the Copyright Act that prohibit registration for “familiar symbols or designs; (and) mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering or coloring.”