united-states copyright internet trademark business
Using pictures with logos in portfolio
<p>My company (a construction company) has done a lot of work with large chains, such as retail stores and  restaurants. I would like to display pictures of some of these stores on the company portfolio page, so that potential customers know that we can follow brand aesthetic guidelines.</p>
<p>I would like to just post pictures of the outside of the buildings. I understand that it's completely legal to post pictures of the buildings themselves as works of architecture; my question is about the logo. I understand that trademark law requires that the logo not be used &quot;in commerce&quot; or cause &quot;consumer confusion.&quot;</p>
<p>With regard to the &quot;in commerce&quot; issue, our customer base is across <em>many</em> state lines. So I don't know if that falls under the purview of &quot;in commerce.&quot; But the type of work my company does in no way relates to the companies we've done work for; for example, Shoprite. (We haven't done work with Shoprite, it's just an example of a company that is completely removed from construction.) So vis-a-vis commerce, the interstate commerce is not related to the company whose logo is in question, just our own.</p>
<p>With regard to the &quot;consumer confusion&quot; issue, as stated, our industry is construction, not, for example, supermarkets. So I don't know if the issue of &quot;consumer confusion&quot; would play in here either--the image would clearly be on a portfolio page, and the page would be targeting contractors and others in the construction industry, not supermarket specialists or food purchasers.</p>
<p>Considering both of these issues, do I need permission from the companies in order to have buildings with their logos in images on my company's portfolio?</p>

<h2>This would normally be fine</h2>
<p>With trade marks it’s important to be clear that the use of the trade mark does not indicate endorsement or recommendation of your business.</p>
<p><strong>But</strong>...</p>
<p>Read your contracts. Most commercial construction contracts explicitly prohibit publication or promotion of the project without agreement.</p>
<p>So, while there are no copyright issues and you can avoid trade mark issues, doing this may put you in breach of contract.</p>
