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I've seen a bunch of questions essentially asking, "My logo is similar to another... is it okay??" The answer to each is something like, "Regardless of copyright/legal issues, it's not a good idea to have similar logos".

Here are some that fit (feel free to edit to add more if you find them):

How should we handle these types of questions?

I'm thinking we should mark them as duplicates since the question is the same, the logos just change, and leave a comment for their logo comparison specifically. Should we create a canonical? Is there a question that has already asked that could be used as a canonical?

  • Without looking through the other questions now (I will when I have more time), I think the best idea in theory would be to close as duplicate of a canonical Q&A... In practice though new users aren't going to understand why and each situation is going to be different (more than usual duplicate closing). I can see a lot of complaints about that... I'm not saying we shouldn't do it, but it's something we should think about. – Cai Feb 3 '17 at 18:22
  • Count me in as a complainant. The so-called duplicate does not answer my question at all. – vpn Jun 1 '17 at 19:19
  • @vanderpn Your question is already marked as "kind of" fitting in the post. Do you have an issue with the premise or just your question being closed specifically? – Zach Saucier Jun 1 '17 at 19:25
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    I just ventured in the review queue and pretty much every question was that kind of question... My worry is that people post and consider the answer as legal advice. I've seen them marked as duplicate but do we have a little blurb that can be posted as a comment that the person should refer to a lawyer? – Emilie♦ Jun 2 '17 at 2:22
  • @Emilie That is mentioned in the answer. Do you think that anything in addition to what has been said is necessary? – Zach Saucier Jun 2 '17 at 3:07
  • @ZachSaucier One thing that I would add that is paramount to proving one didn't intentionally plagiarize would be to keep tracks of the creative process -- files that include research, options, alternatives...basically a well-documented process. – Emilie♦ Jun 2 '17 at 3:18
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I've created a canonical post that we can now use to close questions regarding this topic with.

I think we should also close the past posts mentioned in the question as a dupe of this canonical.

  • three thumbs up – PieBie♦ Jun 1 '17 at 7:54
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I kind of think it's bad form to prevent all those excellent answers from the past gaining rep. They took the time to answer the question. They shouldn't be locked out of votes due to the questions being closed now. For no other reason than an attempt to condense things (honestly I don't know for what reason.) Unlike other common questions, these questions can be highly relative to images. There's no "blanket" answer to many of these questions even if they appear to be similar. --

(Note that only one of the linked question has an answer from me.... so I'm not being self-serving here.)

I see the point from an organizational standpoint. Having a single question/answer to link to as a duplicate is helpful. Similar to the "what resolution for large printing" question. But realize the resolution question does have hard, definitive, repeatable answers. These logo questions do not. Where is the harm in leaving the old questions as they are??

I just feel bad for everyone who took the time to answer previous questions and will now be just tumbleweeds left to dry out unless Google finds them if they are closed. I say leave them open... but regulars should try and link to the new wiki question as a duplicate when possible.

...not to mention the possible repercussions of closing questions from users that may not be entirely active but do still visit. Closing their single, or rarely posted, question may not favor well with them.

Seems to be a "throw the baby out with the bathwater" scenario here.

  • I understand that mentality, but what you propose seems kind of inconsistent - to treat the past posts as different than future ones. To me I think the commonalities between the question warrant their closure more than the small differences – Zach Saucier Jun 2 '17 at 1:12
  • @ZachSaucier I absolutely never meant that the proposal was malicious in any way. I understand it completely and know it only came from a good place. This answer of mine was merely to point out a perhaps overlooked aspect. – Scott Jun 2 '17 at 3:52
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To reiterate what I already said in Chat: I agree, we should have a canonical Q to link to as dupes.

I think this one has great answers, but is not really an exact match: Is there any service where you can check your designed logo against trademarked logos?

This one is a more exact match, but the answers are not so good: Would this be considered as plagiarism?

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    I think the first question you link is helpful and might should be linked in a good answer, but I don't think it's right to mark these questions as a duplicate of that one. The second question you link isn't a very good candidate unless a new answer is written and the question is cleaned up a little – Zach Saucier Feb 3 '17 at 17:01

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