natty_dread wrote:Tismypueblo wrote:Copyright shouldn't be an issue because pretty much all of the names used are cities or areas, which can't be trademarked (just like using a territory called "Paris").
Untrue. There are names like Manchester United, Queens park Rangers etc. on the map. Those are likely copyrighted.
Okay, I will conceed that some of the names might be problematic, but easily changed. The names on this map fall into three categories:
1. Place names, such as Swindon, Newcastle, etc. These do not fall foul of any rules or regulations as they are place names and free to use (such as 'Paris' or 'London')
2. Partial team names, such as Arsenal, Man City, etc.. My initial research seems to indicate these would be fine, though I could be wrong and might need more research. For example, Man City have trademarks on Manchester City and Manchester City Football Club (FC), but not necessarily just Man City, which is more of a colloquial term for them. However, they are not place names and hint at the brands themselves.
3. Full team names, such as Manchester United, Queens Park Rangers, etc. On my initial draft, these names will fall foul of trademark issues, however this can be resolved by changing them to Man U (or Man United even) and just Queens Park.
Also, in this case we are dealing with trademarks and not copyrights, which is a whole different issue. Trademarks are meant to protect well known brands from other companies using their name for a profit in a way that will confuse their customers and/or result in the degredation of their brand name and value. I don't think a CC map, while arguably for profit, will confuse or cause the degredation of a football team's name.
I, not being a lawyer, may be out of my depth here, so I'm not sure if anyone can help clarify the laws, but this is my knowledge of them.
