American Airlines sues US Copyright Office over logo dispute
American Airlines has lost patience in its long-running battle to get copyright protection for its logo.
It is suing the US Copyright Office for its refusal to grant protection after three rejections in the past few years.
The federal agency has refused to grant it on several occasions as it deems the logo is ‘not original or creative’.
The red, white and blue color scheme is ‘exceedingly common," it says.
American calls it ‘an abuse of discretion’ and filed a federal lawsuit last week asking a judge to overturn the decision.
"American Airlines’ Flight Symbol easily possesses the modicum of creativity necessary to qualify for copyright protection. The Copyright Office has registered multiple designs that do not approach the creativity and uniqueness embodied," AA said in the lawsuit.
American cited a previous ruling citing that only ‘a minimal degree of creativity’ is needed for copyright protection.
But even with this low bar, the logo still doesn’t make the grade.
American launched the logo in 2013, which was created by Futurebrand, which even won an award for the design.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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