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Copyright question

by Vulk
4 replies
If I mentioned "TiVo" In my meta description for Google I'm a breaking any rules?
#copyright #question
  • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
    1. This is not enough information to answer your question.

    2. No matter how many people say "yes," you're going to do it anyway.

    3. If even one person says "no," you're going to blame that person instead of yourself for doing it.

    4. You're a big boy. Read the rules yourself, make your own decision, and take responsibility for it.
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    "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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  • Profile picture of the author kindsvater
    Hi Vulk, welcome to the forum.

    I think what you're asking about is trademark, and not copyright, and whether using a trademark within a web page meta description violates one of Google's "rules".

    So long as your web page is about TiVo, such as reviewing the product or talking about your use of the product, that seems to me to be something Google would want in a meta description to help it properly categorize your page.

    On the other hand, if your page has nothing to do with TiVo, or relates to a competitive product, then no.
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  • Profile picture of the author E. Brian Rose
    Oppedahl & Larson v. Advanced Concepts
    Insituform Technologies Inc. v. National Envirotech Group, L.L.C.
    Playboy Enterprises Inc. v. Calvin Designer Label
    Playboy vs. AsiaFocus and Internet Promotions
    Playboy vs. Terri Welles
    Brookfield Communications Inc. v. West Coast Entertainment Corp

    These are all cases of lawsuits that were filed for using trademarks in meta tags.
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    Founder of JVZoo. All around good guy :)

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    • Profile picture of the author kindsvater
      And all those cases involved claims of improper trademark usage, and not all of them were won by the trademark holder. I've read them all and cited them in legal briefs, plus a few other cases.

      That is why my post above reads as it does.

      I use trademarks in meta descriptions all the time. If I have a web page about TiVo, for example, I would absolutely use TiVo in a meta description.

      One of the common misconceptions of trademark law, which I have said many times here, is that a trademark does NOT give the owner monopoly rights on use of the mark.

      What it does, generally, allow the trademark owner exclusively use a particular name in connection with a particular type of goods or services to prevent consumer confusion as to the source of those goods or services.

      eBay. Amazon. Ford. GM. TiVo. None of these companies are going to sue me because I just typed out their trademarks on the forum.

      But, if I were to start a car company and sell cars called Ford, that would be a problem. But it is no problem, for instance, for Delta to be a faucet brand and an airline brand.
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