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Locals
You cannot copyright the letters - period. What the national groups have are copyrights on things like images of the crest etc. (let us not go down the road about badges!).
For example, there was once a Delta Zeta Sorority chapter at St. John's University (NY). They disafilliated from DZ national at some point and many years later DZ national found out they still were using the ritual and loosely operating off of DZ history and systems. DZ could not force them to change their letters - the letters themselves could not be trademarked. Eventually, DZ offered to colonize them and hope to bring them back into the sisterhood. They were never chartered and to my knowledge, DZ national got their ritual book back.
Another good example is a local sorority called Alpha Epsilon Pi. Many years ago, there was a pin for this group at an estate jeweler. I contact AEPi fraternity (men) and they told me this was a local sorority that existed since like 1902 at Moravian College and since they had no plans to expand nationally, they just let them be - they peacefully coexisted for many (like 80) years. According to Moravian's webiste, this local became a chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha in the past 10 years or so.
There is more to the meaning of a local than just the letters. The symbols, the motto and purpose - all part of who you are!
My 2 pennies,
Denise
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