[NERD-ALERT: Only read this if you're interested in the intersection of politics, sports, graphic design, and intellectual property rights. Or if you're just a geek.]
By Jay Jones, June 6, 2008
Right now, I’m kicking myself.
Why? We’re talking about fonts, here. I’m mean, really, how slow does it have to be for me to be writing about fonts?
But you want to know the sad part, though? These type of things usually don’t get past me. Remember when the Playstation 3 came out? Yeah, I was that guy that said, “Is Sony using the Spiderman font for the Playstation?” (Sony owns both properties.)
Well, I missed this one, big time. But considering it’s political season, the right and the left didn’t.
And the University of Oregon’s Oregon Commentator picked up this oddity, too.
Here’s a quick comparison:
Gordon Smith’s new logo. You can see it used in his new television spot, “Get It”, here.
Here are a couple of logos for the University of Oregon. You can find more University of Oregon logos at the trademark management website here.
And here’s a comparison. The red represents the characters from the above logos overlayed on the Gordon Smith logo:
You see, here’s the thing about this logo: the University of Oregon owns it. Even though the “Mike Bellotti” font (“Bellotti Bold” might be its proper name), as it’s called within the Athletics Department, was designed by Nike, it belongs the the UO. There might be others out there like it (Eurostile, Blair, Bank Gothic, & Serpentine), but there’s only one “Oregon” font.
And it’s copyrighted. Federally registered. All that jazz.
[Update: Apparently, you can not copyright a font. The process of creating a font can be copyrighted, but not the font. Kind of insane. Anyway…And Oregon's logos and marks are the only things that can be federally registered. But the UO does own the font. And, again, I think it's uniquely their font. One other geeky font thing here: the font for the logo is different than the tag line. I believe the "Common Ground. Common Good." text is using Handel Gothic, a font often mistaken as the UO font.]
Here’s one other thing about the font: for designers working with the UO, getting it is a bit of a Holy Grail. Only a few at the Casanova Center have it. Just try getting a hold of it. Good luck. Believe me. Because I’ve tried. And then try using it and see if you don’t get a call from the Trademark Management office.
On a bit of a lark, I decided to call Gordon Smith’s campaign headquarters to see if they had in fact used the Oregon font for the logo. And they said, “No.”. (You be the judge on that one. Although, I doubt a staffer is going to know if a certain font was used for the new logo.)
Then I called the Oregon’s Trademark Office to see if Oregon did own the font. And I was told they did, along with all that other stuff about copyright and it being federally registered (which I guess now is a bit of a non-issue].
But the Trademark Office also told me something else. I had not been the first to call. Looks like The Oregonian called yesterday. We’ll see where that goes.
So, what does this all mean?
Not anything real serious, other than the fact that the University of Oregon Athletic Department finds itself in another really weird situation (A friend commented to me this afternoon that Oregon is the only school to actually have a font designed for them.)
Here are some of the questions and implications:
- If U.S. Senator Gordon Smith’s campaign is using the Oregon font for his logo, he’s using a copyright-protected font for his campaign. (And, yes, on occasion we use copyrighted material, as well. However, we are not United State Senators running for re-election.) [Again, this is probably a non-issue now. I know fonts pretty well. And that font is the Oregon font. While it might not be copyright-protected, it is owned by the UO. Therefore, I see it as the campaign using the UO's property without their permission.]
- If the campaign is using the font and is called on it (and I don’t think it will be), he’s going to have to sink some money into changing up some of his materials. It might be just on the commercial. I don’t know. But if the campaign is producing a bunch of collateral material such as signs, banners, brochures, he’s going to incur some costs.
As a side note, this is a bit of an intellectual-property issue. Not a big one. But I will point out that big time Vancouver, B.C. (I lived in Vancouver for a year, and became way too familiar with hockey and the CFL) sports talk radio show host Dave Pratt just had his column canned from The Province for plagarizing ESPN’s (formerly of Sports Illustrated) Rick Reilly.
- How did the campaign get this font, considering it’s held tighter by the UO than Joan Collins’ (or Joan Rivers’) face?
- What do you think OSU fans think about this? “I get it. I’m Gordon Smith. Working with both Oregon and Oregon State fans. And by the way, I like Oregon’s logo better than yours, Oregon State.”
Duck fans, it’s a slow day.
And right about now, I’m kicking myself for writing this. But, at least, I used the right font.
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Tags: Campaign, Ducks, Font, Gordon Smith, Logo, University of Oregon
ZMiller Says:
June 6th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
I am DYING to know what font that is…
I wish somebody would take the liberty to make the font.
But seriously, I really want the font. Great design and what not.
Jay Says:
June 6th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
ZMiller -
It’s the “Mike Bellotti” font. And I’m serious.
Nike designed the font specifically for Oregon athletics. Based on some past work experience, I took a crack at recreating the rest of the alphabet based on characters I already had. And if you’ve watched Oregon sports over the last few years, you’ve probably seen the fruits of that labor in use.
But that’s my point. Oregon has a death-grip on that font. And everyone wants it.
So, how did Gordon Smith’s team get it?
Because this is exactly why Oregon hangs on to it so tightly. They want just anyone using it.
Jay
DSN
PS Serpentine is kind of like it, too.
wheaton4prez Says:
June 6th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
I work with designers, fonts, etc. all the time. I’ve also tried to get that font in the past. So, I noticed this the first time the commercial aired and had a laugh about it.
“So, Gordon Smith is the Duck choice?” I believe I said.
Anyway, I doubt Gordon Smith could get into too much trouble unless he was part of the decision to use the font and knew both that it was Oregon’s and it was copyrighted. A lot of people probably don’t even know that fonts are copyrightable. I was wondering myself how strict a copyright at UO could be since it’s a state funded school. Don’t we all own it in a way?
As far as getting the font. I think the designer just used graphics from existing materials. Those letters could be traced in illustrator in about 5 minutes. The fact that they don’t match the letters exactly suggests that they didn’t have the actual font files.
wheaton4prez Says:
June 6th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Actually, I’m not sure that this is the “Mike Belotti” font. My research into it has been that the “Mike Belotti” font is the one used for the numbers on the jerseys. All the characters start off slim at the bottom and get wider toward the top. It’s supposed to make the players look larger, I read somewhere.
There may not even be an actual font file for the lettering of the “Oregon” logo. It could just be illustrated letters.
Jay Says:
June 6th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
wheaton4prez -
Yeah, I’ve seen that font, too. But the “Oregon” font does exist. I might just start referring to it as the “Bigfoot” font.
Several sources close to the situation have told me that it does exist. And every single one of them wouldn’t email me the darn thing!
Nuts!
Jay
DSN
Jay Says:
June 6th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
wheaton4prez -
I’m not suggesting Gordon Smith is in trouble. We’re talking about a font here, right?
As far as Oregon copyrights are concerned, try this little exercise: print and sell t-shirts online or at football games with the words “Autzen Stadium” on them. See how long it takes before you get a phone call.
It doesn’t take long. Well, at least in our case it did not.
Oregon owns copyright and trademark rights on “Autzen Stadium”, “Hayward Field”, “McArthur Court”, and all of the associated UO logos.
As far as GS’s logo is concerned, I could have done a better job at matching things up.
But why would his team go through the trouble?
Jay
DSN
Todd Says:
June 6th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
For those wanting a close facsimile, try the “Denmark” font in all caps. I like it, and make iron-ons for Team Tailgate with it.
Jay Says:
June 6th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Todd -
Denmark is the closest I’ve seen. Good call.
Jay
DSN
RJB Says:
June 6th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Gordo will get a simple cease and desist letter from UO’s attorneys. He’ll stop using it and that will be the end of it. Then he’ll start using that godawful ’80’s-style script the Beavs use on their logo.
scott in dc Says:
June 7th, 2008 at 11:55 am
hey guys – for what it’s worth i found a font that’s VERY similar to the Oregon font a long time ago.
its called Handel Gothic, here are a couple links, check it out. it’s not exactly the same but its VERY close i think.
http://www.identifont.com/show?24U
http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/bitstream/handel-gothic/
Treston Says:
June 7th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
I’ve heard from a few people that the actual “Oregon O” was designed from the old shape of Autzen Stadium on the outside and the shape of the track on the inside. That seems to make sense, but I’ve yet to see it on any formal source. This group seems like some of you would know. Does anyone know the origin of the design? Is there somewhere credible that backs it up?
Jay Says:
June 7th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Scott in dc -
Yes, Handel Gothic is another “close” one.
Treston -
The outside of the O is indeed Autzen and the inside is Hayward.
Jay
DSN
NoCopyright Says:
June 10th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
There is no copyright in the font itself, registered or not.
NoCopyright Says:
June 10th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
“Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works” include two-dimensional and three-dimensional works of fine, graphic, and applied art, photographs, prints and art reproductions, maps, globes, charts, diagrams, models, and technical drawings, including architectural plans. Such works shall include works of artistic craftsmanship insofar as their form but not their mechanical or utilitarian aspects are concerned; the design of a useful article, as defined in this section, shall be considered a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work only if, and only to the extent that, such design incorporates pictorial, graphic, or sculptural features that can be identified separately from, and are capable of existing independently of, the utilitarian aspects of the article.
sharon Says:
June 11th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Would really be nice if you took a stroll down to the Law School and got a sound bite from an intellectual property rights prof – really interested in what they would have to say. What typical penalties are, etc.
darrelplant Says:
June 12th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
I’m hardly a Gordon Smith apologist, but this story has no legs. Here’s how to get from an online sample of the Handel font to the Gordon Smith logo in five steps:
http://www.darrelplant.com/blog_item.php?ItemRef=1054
Jay Says:
June 12th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
darrelplant -
I’ve had to reverse engineer this font for other purposes in a different context. It’s not fun. So, why would they go to the trouble, work their way through those five steps to do this? A lot of trouble for very little payoff.
Jay
DSN
Jay Says:
June 12th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
Sharon -
Turns out you can’t copyright a font.
OK.
So, Smith’s campaign either engineered their own version or stole the font file from Oregon.
Jay
DSN