State artwork permissions/license explicitly about logos HOT 12 OPEN

@MTRNord keep in mind that even derivations of the matrix logo (e.g. replacing the "m" with something else) are likely violations of copyright law.

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@ara4n could you clarify status of logo licenses please?

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sorry, totally missed this issue. you're right that we need explicit licensing; I'm anxious that the Matrix logo itself is protected in such a way that folks can't use it on things which don't actually talk Matrix (or worst, their own weird fragmented dialect of Matrix). getting a proper answer on this probably means checking with legal types, which costs dollars, and will need to wait until we have some $...

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I have somehow the same "issue" I am currently implementing a Matrix Client and wonder what Logos (Especialy the 3 by 3 boxes icon for integrations) I am allowed to use and for what I have to use third-party Logos that do look similiar.

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@non-Jedi thats why I am "asking" first/mentioning it in here that that is a possible case where a user/dev might want to use it

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For what is worth someone (probably in good faith) uploaded the [matrix] logo to https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Matrix_logo1.png, where it got Wikimedia Commons' default license, CC-BY-SA.

getting a proper answer on this probably means checking with legal types, which costs $, will need to wait until we have some $...

... or you could just do like Debian does. https://www.debian.org/logos/

Why Debian? Because they care about licenses, they have been around for a long time, and their logos are used, reused and modified in all sorts of ways, yet they have kept their brand well protected.

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we'll try to sort this out shortly. the problem we have is that we don't want to encumber the logos with restrictive licensing... but we also don't want people to use them to refer to things which don't actually implement Matrix. the Debian example is an interesting one, but I don't think i've ever seen their 'restricted use' logo in my life, despite using Debian since Woody...

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Is there any update on this?

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Has this ever been resolved? I am leery of using images without knowing the licence.

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I also would be interested on an update on this.

However regarding https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Matrix_logo1.png
It seems that the issue is resolved already as now it is public domain.
So people who use it dare to do so!

Surely it should be some unspoken imperative that it is not used in a way which would hurt the project.

I would thus dare to produce merchandise using the Logo and donate the lions share of the profits to the matrix foundation ;-)

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However regarding https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Matrix_logo1.png
It seems that the issue is resolved already as now it is public domain.
So people who use it dare to do so!

Considering this was uploaded by a random user and this being the official issue i would be careful about the stated license on wikimedia.

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Has a license been defined in the last two years?

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