Copyright usage in a non-profit, educational organization setting?

[xombiecats]

A friend of mine is an administrator in an Astronomy club at our institution. He created a "logo" using the NASA "meatball" logo ( http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...A_logo.svg ) except replacing "NASA" with the name of the institution. Other than a slightly different font, this is the only thing that was altered. All the colors, locations, and anything else of the logo remains the same. He wishes to use this in a brochure to be distributed around campus, and has already used it as the default picture for the Facebook group for the club.

I don't feel like this is any kind of appropriate application of "Fair Use Laws" that he is stating to defend his decisions. He believes that because 1) he altered it "significantly", according to him, 2) It is used for a non-profit, educational purpose. He also cited that the picture was here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nasa-logo.gif , which says "This file is in the public domain because it was created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See TemplateD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.)" and therefore it is okay for him to use it. But the NASA copyright policy page it links to specifically states "2. This general permission does not include the NASA insignia logo (the blue "meatball" insignia), the NASA logotype (the red "worm" logo), and the NASA seal. These images may not be used by persons who are not NASA employees or on products (including web pages) that are not NASA sponsored."


I just want to hopefully get some expert opinion on this, rather than a "this website says this" against "well this website says this" argument. I just want to make sure that everyone in the group, and our institution, can avoid getting into any kind of trouble with copyright infringement.

Thanks in advance!
Other details that may be important--
-This is in New York State
-We're not sure exactly what "significant" amount of alteration would entail. I was told in a Commercial Art class that stated it was "significant" if it was 80% or greater, but I've also seen that it could be 50%
I guess "expert" wasn't really the right word because I wasn't necessarily thinking like lawyer-style expert, just someone with a little more experience than either of us. So I apologize for that, sorry

[sitcpsitcb]

Y!A is not a good place for expert opinion. Your institution should have an attorney or firm who handles the legal issues. Go ask him or her and get a legitimate answer, not one from a bunch of sixteen-year-olds who want to go to Harvard Law and think they can give legal advice.

[chubbyarithmetic161]

Oh, good lord. NASA is not going to get bent out of shape if somebody at an educational institution has modified their logo for an astronomy club. Quite the opposite. NASA wants to encourage people to study astronomy and would certainly not take legal action for something like this. It would be a public relations nightmare and only draw attention to the fact that by the time the shuttle program is wound down over the next couple years the US will have no capacity to send people into space. Relax.

[Min Dong]

i don't think it's a good idea.the people who apply for copyright usage,he give efforts.so he should get money

[little princess]

That you are non-profit doesn't increase the applicability of Fair Use. Someone who is motivated by financial returns is just as entitled to Fair Use as anyone else.

The answer boils down to how different your logo is from theirs. The reason NASA has a copyright on their logo is that they don't want some fly-by-night company sticking their logo on something and giving people the false impression that their product/device is NASA approved. If someone glances at your club's logo, is there a possibility that it could be confused with NASA's, or could someone get the impression that your club is in some way sponsored by NASA? If there is, then you should probably modify the logo more.