Having marshall amp on album cover?

  • Thread starter Thread starter LJUK
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LJUK

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Does anyone have any experience or knowledge about having a marshall amp and logo in the background of an album cover. do i need to get permission and/or pay them etc?
obviously its a brand so my guess is probably yes, just wondering if anyone knows for sure.

thanks
 
I'd be keen to hear a solid answer on this, but I seriously doubt it!
What about guitars, or drinks, or clothing? Cars? Everything's branded these days.
 
Just do it. You're not going to sell enough to even get a greedy lawyer's attention.
 
And conversely, I'd like to hear someone knowledgeable on the issue weigh in on when there is a solid black piece of tape over the Marshall (or any other) logo, whether it be live, on a concert video, music video...

I imagine there are unique circumstances (eg the band is boycotting or some issue between the brand and label, whatever). So I'm interested to hear about these as well as general issues.

Great thread!
 
Steenamaroo said:
Is this a real problem, Greg? On the bigger scale, I mean?
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I don't know. I'm not a copyright lawyer.

I'm just guessing here, purely speculation, that the intent of including the brand is what may raise a red flag.

If your album cover is a live shot of a band on a stage using Marshall amps in the background, maybe that won't be a problem because the amps are just part of a picture and not the focus or intent. Same as if there are beer cans on the stage, or a car in a background, or if you're wearing Converse shoes.

If your album cover is the Marshall logo and not much else, and you're using that logo to entice people to buy your shit, like "hey this guy uses Marshalls, we must buy this album!" then maybe that's a problem.
 
gregoryg said:
And conversely, I'd like to hear someone knowledgeable on the issue weigh in on when there is a solid black piece of tape over the Marshall (or any other) logo, whether it be live, on a concert video, music video...

I imagine there are unique circumstances (eg the band is boycotting or some issue between the brand and label, whatever). So I'm interested to hear about these as well as general issues.

Great thread!
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That's usually a licensing thing, and not so much the "band hates Brand X". You'll often see live events sponsored by a brand, or a backline provided by a certain brand, so all other brands must be blacked out for TV coverage. I've seen lots of stuff with an Orange backline, but if you use Marshalls, you need to tape over it for the TV feed. Or that "Rock Gods" thing recently was sponsored by Randall, and the Randall logo was everywhere. Marshall and Vox guys had to blank out their logos. That was dumb because everyone knows Marshalls and Vox are way way way better than anything Randall makes.
 
Whatever happened to companies just being happy that they were getting some free advertising? The world these days makes me sick.
 
Greg_L said:
That's usually a licensing thing, and not so much the "band hates Brand X". You'll often see live events sponsored by a brand, or a backline provided by a certain brand, so all other brands must be blacked out for TV coverage. I've seen lots of stuff with an Orange backline, but if you use Marshalls, you need to tape over it for the TV feed. Or that "Rock Gods" thing recently was sponsored by Randall, and the Randall logo was everywhere. Marshall and Vox guys had to blank out their logos. That was dumb because everyone knows Marshalls and Vox are way way way better than anything Randall makes.
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This.
When you are doing a large festival and you are not thr headliner, you are using backline provided by the promoter. If you have endorsements from amp companies, those companies don't like seeing pictures of you playing someone elses stuff...especially when you do it in front of 10,000 people, when you normally play to 100 people in a dive club using your own stuff.

Some of that is contractual and has nothing to do with trademark law or hatred for a product. Every once in a while, an artist will block the logo because they don't want to advertise/endorse a product they aren't getting compensated to endorse.
 
Thanks for the replies

Well my picture was a Marshall half stack with a guitar propped on it and a baby sat in front of it in shades. The Marshall logos are very noticeable on it so guess I'll probably have to choose a new cover.
I did email Marshall the same day as I started this thread but haven't received a reply.
 
LJUK said:
Thanks for the replies

Well my picture was a Marshall half stack with a guitar propped on it and a baby sat in front of it in shades. The Marshall logos are very noticeable on it so guess I'll probably have to choose a new cover.
I did email Marshall the same day as I started this thread but haven't received a reply.
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Can't you just photoshop out the logo and get on with your life?
 
if your actually using their amps and it sounds good then i suppose you could email em with links to your material and get their approval ...


a picture would state your using real gear,if its sims forget it !
 
I'd prefer to use the real logo as I'm not a fan of seeing an obvious Marshall with a different name on or no name at all.
I guess I'll try and contact them again as I'd rather get their permission and I'll even pay a fee as long as its not crazy amounts.
I'll update back here if I sort it out so that other people know what to do :)
 
LJUK said:
I'd prefer to use the real logo as I'm not a fan of seeing an obvious Marshall with a different name on or no name at all.
I guess I'll try and contact them again as I'd rather get their permission and I'll even pay a fee as long as its not crazy amounts.
I'll update back here if I sort it out so that other people know what to do :)
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Why don't you call a lawyer if it's that important to you to have a "Marshall" on your album cover?
 
Greg_L said:
Why don't you call a lawyer if it's that important to you to have a "Marshall" on your album cover?
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I'll see if I get a reply from them, then if not I'll design a different cover. I just liked the cover I made that's all and it just happened to feature my Marshall half stack. Could have just as easily been my fender amp on there, just the Marshall was out that day.
If they can't even be bothered to reply, don't really want to "advertise" them anyway!
 
LJUK said:
I'll see if I get a reply from them, then if not I'll design a different cover. I just liked the cover I made that's all and it just happened to feature my Marshall half stack. Could have just as easily been my fender amp on there, just the Marshall was out that day.
If they can't even be bothered to reply, don't really want to "advertise" them anyway!
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I used a pic of one of my Marshall rigs on the inside cover of my last album. Not to broadcast my Marshallness, but because it was an actual tracking pic. I was also using a Les Paul, had Vic Firth tracking headphones on, and I was wearing a New Orleans Saints NFL ball cap and a Mighty Mouse T-shirt. I wasn't about to "black" out all of those logos. It's just a pic.

So what halfstack are you using?
 
It's like football shirts, T shirts, phones and computers - they are all logo'd clearly to advertise them. They WANT you to use them, tey WANT them to be seen in pics etc UNLESS you are doing something that will bring them into conflict wth their chosen demographic.
It's insane that in Oz we have to pay $120 for a real football shirt that is almost completely covered with advertising. I reckon the shirts should be free to promote the companies or at the very least at cost.
 
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