greek licensing

[Nervousmama]

I had a question.... i understand that you muct have a greek license to print bags and stuff with actual letters (the gamma in kkg, the phi in alpha phi, etc) but what are the rules about the nicknames? (like the word "kappa" or "tridelta" or full names like "alpha phi" )

[Psi U MC Vito]

My thought is that you need to be licensed to print any thing that can be associated with a greek organization. No idea if I'm right or not however.

[LucyKKG]

^^ Really? How can you copyright one letter of the Greek alphabet? Sorry, I promise I'm not trying to be difficult. Just wondering.

[kddani]

Originally Posted by Beryana

Those are all copyrighted terms - "Kappa", "Tri Delta", "Alpha Phi", etc. Licensing protects those copyrights.

Trademark would be the correct term, not copyright. They may or may not have a trademark on those terms. I, too, would have a hard time believing simply "Kappa" could be trademarked. But it is way too early for me to go into that legal analysis!

[Beryana]

I stand corrected.

"Alpha Omicron Pi is the exclusive owner of its trademarks. In order to safeguard the appropriate use of our federally registered trademarks and to guarantee quality products, Alpha Omicron Pi is one of many Greek organizations that have entered into a trademark licensing agreement with Affinity Marketing Consultants (AMC). All commercial use of AOII’s trademarks must be administered through a license agreement with AOII."

"Kappa Kappa Gamma is the exclusive owner of its trademarks.
The following trademarks are owned by Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity, 530 East Town Street, P.O. Box 38, Columbus, Ohio 43216-0038:

KAPPA KAPPA GAMMA®; KKΓ®; THE KEY®; TRADITION OF LEADERSHIP®; Key Design®; Greek Letters Sigma and Delta Design®; Fraternity Coat of Arms Design®; KKG™; Fleur-de-Lis Design™; and Light Blue/Dark Blue Trade Dress™.

The absence of a name or logo in the above list does not constitute a waiver of any intellectual property rights that Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity has established in any of its activities, products, services, names, designs, logos or insignia. Nothing contained on this Web site shall be construed as conferring any license or other grant of right to use any copyright, trademark or other intellectual property of Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity.

All other trademarks are the property of the respective trademark owners. Reference to any product, service or offering of any third party by trade name, trademark, manufacturer or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply the endorsement or recommendation of such by Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity."

[thejamesjones]

As a past holder of a Greek License, through Affinity Groups, greeklicensing.com, I feel compfortable with the following.

Individual letters, Kappa for instance, may not be trademarked. However, if you were to print a bag, with "Kappa", in their color of blue, and maybe include a key you are walking a very thin line. Simillarly, if you were to list them online, with the assumption that they are kkg bags, and reference the name even in the description, you could find yourself in a bit of legal trouble.

There are some organizations that keep track of licensing themselves. However, the concept of Greek Licensing, was developed about 12 years ago, and the largest and possibly only group I know overseeing this is greeklicensing.com.

I am sure that they would be happy to answer any of your questions, but realize that if you call them you will be put on their radar for the future. They will not hesitate to come in and sue any company that is not abiding by the law.

Hope this was helpful!

[kddani]

Originally Posted by thejamesjones

There are some organizations that keep track of licensing themselves. However, the concept of Greek Licensing, was developed about 12 years ago, and the largest and possibly only group I know overseeing this is greeklicensing.com.

The concept of registered trademarks (registering trademarks is done through governmental agencies) and licensing the use of a trademark are much, much older than that. Business that help companies administer their licensing are not a new concept. Greek Licensing may be the largest and only one focused on Greeks, but what they do is NOT unique.

I also disagree with many of their business practice and how they treat members of the organizations that are their clients, but that's another thread.

[Nervousmama]

Originally Posted by thejamesjones

As a past holder of a Greek License, through Affinity Groups, greeklicensing.com, I feel compfortable with the following.

Individual letters, Kappa for instance, may not be trademarked. However, if you were to print a bag, with "Kappa", in their color of blue, and maybe include a key you are walking a very thin line. Simillarly, if you were to list them online, with the assumption that they are kkg bags, and reference the name even in the description, you could find yourself in a bit of legal trouble.

There are some organizations that keep track of licensing themselves. However, the concept of Greek Licensing, was developed about 12 years ago, and the largest and possibly only group I know overseeing this is greeklicensing.com.

I am sure that they would be happy to answer any of your questions, but realize that if you call them you will be put on their radar for the future. They will not hesitate to come in and sue any company that is not abiding by the law.

Hope this was helpful!

What is the process of getting licensed (as well as financial obligations)? I'm really wanted to make vintage-like, homemade bags and have them available online, but i didnt want to make an enterprise/company... just wanted to put my artwork out there. what would you suggest?

[Nervousmama]

anyone?

[nelli0424]

For licensing, you need to have business insurance, with at least $1million liability, plus submit all samples and current bank statements to Affinity..., plus, every design has to be approved by Affinity, for each group that you want to design for...ANd you have to pay royalties for each sorority.

hope this helps!

[DZKKG]

Go to www.greeklicensing.com and click on the tab, "Get Licensed." It guides you through the process.

[sradpi]

Hi all! I have a question on this topic as well. A friend of mine and are intense crafters, and over the summer we thought we would try and make a few extra dollars by selling our crafts. We wanted this to be centered around sorority items, particularly aiming at helping girls who wants unique presents for their future littles but are craft-impaired . All of our items would be special ordered, girls individually requesting exactly what artwork, colors, and/or writing/letters they would want on their items, and obviously we wouldn't be making near the amount to meet licensing minimums. Therefore my question is whether we would be breaking any laws with this tiny little summer venture?

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by sradpi

Hi all! I have a question on this topic as well. A friend of mine and are intense crafters, and over the summer we thought we would try and make a few extra dollars by selling our crafts. We wanted this to be centered around sorority items, particularly aiming at helping girls who wants unique presents for their future littles but are craft-impaired . All of our items would be special ordered, girls individually requesting exactly what artwork, colors, and/or writing/letters they would want on their items, and obviously we wouldn't be making near the amount to meet licensing minimums. Therefore my question is whether we would be breaking any laws with this tiny little summer venture?

Your question should be whether anyone would care that you were breaking any laws with this tiny little summer venture. If you are making things to sell to women in your chapter and not advertising nationally, nobody is even going to notice.

[SouthernLady]

I am the merchandise chair for my sorority and this is what I understand:

So many people make greek merch that are not licensed and this is okay. In order for the sorority/fraternity to make an official purchase of anything that has letters OR their name on it, it HAS to be greek licensed. If you're making your own purchase then it doesn't really matter (it's supposed to for most greek org b/c of the trademark but you're not going to actually get in trouble - the point they want to make is "you don't own your letters- we do" but they'll never know and companies don't seem to get in trouble). When I say "your own purchase," it means something the sorority didn't set up. We have required merchandise to buy for recruitment and that has to be greek licensed. We have optional event and random merchandise that you're NOT required to wear, but since WE set up the purchase, the website HAS to be greek licensed. It's better to support greek licensed websites when you make your own purchases because:

#1 - They usually have your ethics in mind. These companies will not sell anything that promotes binge drinking, drugs, hazing, sexism, racism, etc. I do not know of an official "greek licensed" company that sells paddles for my sorority, because we do not allow it. I don't know if they sell paddles to greek organizations that haven't outlawed them. I definitely see sexist shirts (sorority AND fraternity) for parties but not EVERY organization actually goes through the proper pathways to get their merchandise. I definitely have fraternity event shirts that are sexist and not made by the proper companies. Going through greek licensed companies just really helps your organization keep a better handle on how they're being represented by their various chapters.

#2 - This above reason demonstrates how closely and consciously they value the organizations business and will usually offer lower prices than non-licensed companies. Even if the prices are higher, they are ALWAYS better quality purchases. A company has to apply to get this license and so they check to make sure it is an appropriate and trustworthy business before granting them a license.

#3 - Best of all, on certain occasions, or all of the time, some of these places will take a small percentage of proceeds and send it back to your philanthropy or something along those lines.

Go to www.greeklicensing.com and AMC will have a big list of where you can buy your stuff!


I hope this was helpful and forgive me if I was wrong about anything! Your sorority/fraternity website should have more details on your organization's specific laws. We can only make shirts ourselves if we don't sell them... so be careful not to get in trouble with your advisor or regional president! Ours is REALLY strict about EVERYTHING.

[kddani]

Originally Posted by SouthernLady

#1 - These companies will not sell anything that promotes binge drinking,

And what sorority are you in?

BTW- the majority of the licensed vendors sell shot glasses, beer mugs, etc. Though I noticed one website referred to shot glasses as "mini glasses". Lol.