Copyright?

I’m wondering what the conditions would be to be able to put "Cedar Point" on a shirt. Since "Cedar Point" is a copyrighted name, would I have to have CP's permission (in any way) in order to do this?
What I want to do is get a shirt made (it's an art class project believe it or not) that has "Follow me" on the front and "I’m an official Cedar Point guide!" on the back. It's kind of a joke for us extreme fans who know allot about CP;).
The project is just to make some kind of image (using acrylic, oil pastel, watercolor, etc). Our teacher then sends it into a company who makes merchandise with the image on it. We try to sell items out of a catalog (coffee mug, mouse pad, magnets, etc) and some of the profit will go to the art department for our school.

So would I need permission or would I have to come up with something else?....and if so does anyone else have any suggestions?:)

I guess if anything I'd say "UNofficial tour guide" which makes more sense anyway.

You can get in trouble if you are 'posing' as an employee and using the name in that manner.

You can't make a profit off anything with any trademarked names on it. IE Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster, Cedar Point, Cedar Fair, etc.

Ok, Thanks TTD.

What about using "CP"? "Ill be your CP tour guide"
I'll also draw a cartoon version of the sky line so people will get it if they dont know what CP means.

Or, again, unless someone has something better...and legal.:)

*** Edited 3/3/2006 4:08:56 AM UTC by TTD 120mph***

"CP" would be fine.

But there are all kinds of groups that make shirts for there Cedar Point trip and use not only the name Cedar Point but also logos too. Church groups, Schools, Marching Bands, even Families. While I was in high school my church had a trip to Cedar Point and made shirts. They sold those shirts to anyone going on the trip. The same thing happened when I worked for The Longaberger Company, they made Cedar Point shirts and sold them.

But like LIVE E said, you shouldn't make it sound like you might be an employee. That you could defiantly get in trouble for.

Well, I think there's certain laws about if they're making a profit or not. If they're just paying for the shirts, then it might be okay.

Yeah, like every school last year for Physics Day had shirts with "Cedar Point" on them except, of course, for my school.

See the school/company would be making a profit. BUT I do plan on making a legal CP shirt. I'll just have to add the cartoon skyline to make it look like I'm not trying to impersonate an employee....though I think a plain tee wouldnt give that kind of impression.
And if I have to, I'll go have one made at the mall and I'll pay for it myself.

Well if you still wanted to do the shirt for your art project, I guess it would be up to the school/teacher as to if your design would infringe on a copyright, especially if they were going to sell this shirt. If your school has a business class of some sort, ask that teacher what he/she thinks about it. Regardless I don’t think Cedar Point would question if you made more of your shirt and sold it. I don’t think they question every group that comes to the park with similar shirts. And if they did look into it, it would more then likely be the school/company since they would be the one responsible for producing it.

Also, plain t-shirt or not Cedar Point will consider it the same anyway. The GP probably wont notice or care if you just had a t-shirt on. You will be bombarded with questions, maybe you don’t care about that I guess. But Cedar Point will.

So would I need permission or would I have to come up with something else?....and if so does anyone else have any suggestions?:)

Just have the word CEDAR tattooed on one forearm and POINT on the other.

Names are not copyrighted, they're trademarked. Get to know your IP terms. :)

You could always call CP and ask them. I'm sure they'd be more than happy to help (and appreciate the consideration). If you explain to them your project and what you're trying to do, they can at least inform you of their guidelines and maybe even give you some form of official permission. Then everyone's happy.

When we made crew shirts, we had to run our designs by management, especially if they used a copyrighted ride name. In generally, they were pretty lenient about what they allowed.

Ditto to what everyone else said on anything saying "employee" on it if you're not, though. Just asking for trouble. *** Edited 3/3/2006 4:38:02 PM UTC by HoosierTTD***

"Names are not copyrighted, they're trademarked. Get to know your IP terms. :)"

Copyrights....trademarks.....I knew I was going to get them mixed up.:P

Just go to the group planning section on CP's site, they have a bunch of park logos that you can use. You just have to e-mail the person they tell you to (the e-mail link is right on the page) to let them know what you want to use it for.

Sorry, can you give me the address.....I cant find it.:)

http://groups.cedarpoint.com/public/ticket_categories/resources.cfm

I don't think you need to contact Cedar Point though. Like I said, ask at your school. I’m sure they have had something similar happen in the past with the same project.

Oh, group sales! Sorry I was confused. I couldnt find group "planning".:)

I could be wrong, but it would seem to me just the name “cedar point” cannot be trademarked because it’s a commonly used name for cities, places, and such. If you make a shirt that just says “Cedar Point” it would be the same as making a shirt that says “New York” or "Brooklyn" and selling it cheesy gift shops in time square for $3. On the flip side, I would assume the yellow curvy cedar point logo is trademarked as with “Cedar Point Amusement Park.”

That's what I was thinking.....but I emailed Cedar Point just in case.

Remember its always easier to apologize than it is to ask for permisson.