Logo Rip Off! What to do?!

Hey Guys,

I don't normally stray from the Birmingham sub-forum, but I know there are some designers on here and I was wandering if anyone had been in a similar situation, and knew what to do/if there was anything we could do!

milkinsight.com is a Farringdon, London based trend consultancy place. They also produce an online and physically printed magazine, which is stocked in Magma.

The first post on their blog was 08 December 2009.

8 months earlier, in April 2009, my friend Atticus set up a music night at a bar in Stourbridge called 'Milk'. I produced a logo for him, and another lad called Adam did the flyers.

Although it started small in Stourbridge, the night became very big and Atticus was asked to play at some larger clubs in Birmingham. He has sinced moved to London for University and is playing every week. His next gig is with Duke Dumont and We're Not Cool - a Ministry of Sound DJ - my point here is, Atticus isn't just playing in his bedroom in Stourbridge..

Here is the stuff for the first 'Milk' show. The logo and identity were continued throughout the rest of the shows flyers/posters/promo stuff.
*
Milk Flyer

• Milk Logo
  
  
  

Milk, London website/magazine - featuring 'stolen logo'

As you can see, Milk Insight from London have merged the two ideas from the Milk DJ Night flyers. Changing the milk bottle 'I' silhouette and adding in the red lines. A total rip off!

My question is - what should we do about it? Is there anything we can do about it?

The link to the flyer seems to be broken.

I'd advise sending them a letter telling them to stop using it.

I'd also send the details to http://copycunts.blogspot.com/

Sorry, link fixed to flyer.

I don't even particularly like the logo.. I just think it's even more insulting that it's a 'creative consultancy' business that stole it!

The first post on their blog was 08 December 2009.

the first post reads, in part:

*For those of you close to MILK, both clients, partners, friends and pets, the launch of our new magazine and web site is met with ‘about bloody time’*

do a bit of research before you do anything. it could be one of those weird situations where one idea spontaneously appears in two heads. your idea could have even come after their logo.

gotta say, it does look very dodgy though.

Burn them

@Teddy - Thanks for the advice. I've read through their site thoroughly, and only gave that date as the first online record I could find of their existence..

My friend Atticus (the DJ chap) lives near them, and so is popping in tomorrow for a chat. Hopefully, it can be resolved peacefully and credit will be given to the respective parties. However, anyone riding in the Farringdon area might want to watch out for chairs flying through windows.

Meh.. the whole concept is a ripoff of the parties my mates crew, the Panic Stricken Bovine were throwing in 2000-04...

Got Milk?
Udderground
Where's the Beef?

Meh.. the whole concept is a ripoff of the parties my mates crew, the Panic Stricken Bovine were throwing in 2000-04...

Got Milk?
Udderground
Where's the Beef?

Pull the Udder one Hippy............ ;p

am i looking at the right images because apart from the word milk i see no visual similarities?
the word 'milk' is out there, free to be used by anyone.
the fact that you used it for a club night and somebody else is now using it for a club night is hard cheese.
no point getting eggy over it.

I think the original logo looked better.

Sue them. Sue them ALLL!!!!!

am i looking at the right images because apart from the word milk i see no visual similarities?
the word 'milk' is out there, free to be used by anyone.
the fact that you used it for a club night and somebody else is now using it for a club night is hard cheese.
no point getting eggy over it.

Seriously? Have you even looked at it?!

It's a creative consultancy company that's ripped us off, not a club night.

The originals were designed by me and another lad for a friends Dj night.

You're entitled to your opinion, but you're the first person to say that there is no visual similarities between the two. Both in this thread, and out of everyone i've discussed this with. But whatevs..

The name 'Milk' isn't in question here.. It's the visual identity of the logo. Take another look.

Do you have any constructive suggestions on what we can do about it, if anything?

say you want one million dollars or you will set fire to their unipaks

sorry i looked at the 2 links together thinking they were to be compared.
yes it's a stylistic rip-off of the two combined but legally there is no recompense (in my opinion) as i presume you have not trademarked the 2 logo's?

All good Mr Smyth. No, nothing is trademarked or copy written. Nievely, I didn't think to do it. Also, I have no money to do!

I'll probably just create a fake 'official' cease and desist legal document and send it to them.

ask them for a job seeing as they like your work so much

I have to say that i'm with Mr Smyth on this, I see no similarities whatsoever between the two, but I am a bit visually impaired when it comes to this sort of thing. Be that as it may, I have been involved in putting on music events for about two decades and there is no money there to be had. If you want to sue them all it will mean is hefty legal expenses for you. It is rubbish when you have been ripped off creatively, but there is little that you can do in such a small case as this. There may be a few designers out there who disagree but my advice is to make friends on the way up and stomach the inevitable times when you are ripped off.

Sorry, I did just get the gist of it and yes there is a similarity but the above advice stands.

it does look like they copied your logos but i see nothing original about any of it to be honest.

from 2005:

http://www.colorado.edu/journalism/bylines/fall05/features/cross.html

there is nothing new under the sun. i'd enquire with them see where it leads and move on.

Woah! Seriously, I've never seen or heard of Spencer Cross in my life! That's scary! Maybe like you say, there is nothing new under the sun..

nor had i. i just google image searched 'milk logo' and it was on the first page.

Sometimes these things are picked up self-consciously.

a photography lecturer said to me once "if you like an image ...take it and make it your own!"

ha! wonder if he's still teaching

All good Mr Smyth. No, nothing is trademarked or copy written. Nievely, I didn't think to do it. Also, I have no money to do!

I'll probably just create a fake 'official' cease and desist legal document and send it to them.
As soon as you record anything you instantly own the copyright to it, provided you aren't copying something that someone else already owns the copyright to. So anything that is your own work is automatically copyrighted as soon as it's down on paper, on a computer, on film, etc. You don't have to do anything to copyright a piece of work.

That said, you might have a hard job proving they have stolen your work as it looks more like a merging of the two original works, not a direct rip off of one design. I dunno, I'm no lawyer.

There is nothing creative about creatives. Plagiarism is what they do best.

+1 squillion. they feed off the creativity of others and call it their own.

If you had trademarked your design, on the other hand, or could prove prior art, then you should enforce it pronto.
The important thing, law-wise, is to find a way that you can verify the very first date that your image was created and made public. Then it's up to a lawyer to write to these other Milk people and tell them to GTFO or get sued. make sure you don't approach the other Milk people without legal advice, as i can imagine that there are various legal terms/protocols that must be used. I've heard of people getting screwed because they didn't do something 'just so' and their otherwise very strong case being thrown out of court.