Fraternity letterhead & printing

[Tom Earp]

John, any update?

[boz130]

Brothers: Keep in mind that Lambda Chi Alpha is one of many GLOs that has a licensing agency keeping tabs on who's printing what. Chances are that these 'Net firms don't have the proper licensing.

Greek Licensed Product vendors have to do things "the right way". They can't produce schlocky material and have a very strict Client Products and Services Policy. It states:

"Products and services containing images of Greek organizations help to define the public perception of each individual Greek organization. Since the Greek organizations aligned with [the licensing agency] are proud of values that help define their intellectual property, they wish to protect their marks and control the manner in which their marks are used by product manufacturers and service providers. All vendors are required to
abide by the following quality control rules:

The following rules will apply to any licensed product or service utilizing Greek marks, specifically but not limited to the following categories of products:
*apparel (shirts, shorts, jackets, etc.)
*press releases
*flyers
*banners
*manuals
*glassware
*publications
*party favors (cups, frames, key chains, etc.)
*posters
*computer web pages
*newspaper articles & advertisements

There may not be:
*any depiction of alcohol, alcoholic beverage use, kegs, beer cans, alcohol bottles, beer bongs, or brand names;
*any depiction of drugs, drug use, drug slogans or slang words, or drug paraphernalia;
*any depiction in a demeaning way, of minorities, ethnicities, or cultural segments;
*any religious depictions in a demeaning way;
*any depictions of men or women in a demeaning way;
*any depictions relating to sex, sexual paraphernalia, or sexual orientation;
*any use of profanity;
*or any use of licensed or copyrighted characters, phrases, logos, or materials without permission from the property owner."

If you'd like to find out the name of vendors that can provide this type of product, visit http://greeklicensing.com/ and click on the "Greek Organization" area toward the bottom left part of the screen.

In ZAX,
BF

[john1082]

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

John, any update?

Not yet

One significant hang up is that the Berkeley House Corp lacks a permanent address - can't print letterhead without an address.

[GammaZeta]

Boz, I don't think it would matter if you used an "officially" licensed printer or not. I checked out the LXA vendors and I didn't see any printers for letterhead or fliers, maybe I missed it.

The "There may not be:" section that you posted really isn't anything a printer would be responsible for, it is more of the designer of the pamphlet or brochure or item

Even if you were to have a professional graphic artist design a brochure, a brother or officer would still have to sign off on the final draft.

Example, if I wanted to have 5,000 brochures printed and I was using psprint.com, I would upload my graphics on the website, pay for it and await my shipment. Most places are almost 100% electronic and the print press operator never sees what you are printing until it is actually printed. If you don't spell a word correctly, don't align something properly or screw up the colors, the first time you will be aware of it is when you receive the final product. A print operator doesn't proof read or approve the printing. Once you place your order, you usually receive a final proof that needs to be approved.

"they wish to protect their marks and control the manner in which their marks are used by product manufacturers and service providers"

I understand this, but I think there are two differences; an unlicensed vendor selling shirts and products for profit, and a chapter putting LXA on it's fliers.

An unlicensed vendor selling shirts, etc., would be responsible for violating the licensing agreements. I 100% agree with LXA taking action against the vendor.

Then you have the vulgar or bad depiction part. More than likely it will be a chapter violating this provision. Maybe they print up a party flier with some ladies flashing and our letters on it. That would be a violation.

I don't think an unlicensed vendor will be printing vulgar items to sell to the chapters.

So, I think the first part you posted applies more to the vendors, while the second part applies more to the chapters.

[boz130]

Actually, licensees have to maintain all of those standards. The t-shirt companies that like to produce products featuring the proverbial " drunk frat guy" or the "well-endowed sorority girl" tend to find themselves on the receiving end of a cease and desist letter (like the schmucks that appropriated our C of A for their lame-o band).

For example, a large, well-known sportswear company which caters to the Greek community just ended years of disagreeing w/the firm which handles the licensing.

The organizations are also concerned with the quality of image being produced. They've all put a lot of time and effort into creating new artwork for their membership (as Brother Lifesaver can attest to), and don't want to have a lot of junky-looking materials on the street.

Sorry if I get a little hyped about this issue, but I'm one of the guys who pays IHQ a lot of money each year to be a licensed vendor.

[GammaZeta]

No, I agree with you Boz. For sweatshirts, rings, frames, etc., licensed vendors are the way to go.

Just the reality of the situation is different. If a chapter wants to have some fliers printed up, will they use the licensed vendor?

[john1082]

As a practical matter I don't think that the licensing program was intended to apply to flyers from Kinkos and the like. That type of vendor isn't 'selling' our intellectual property back to us as a shirt vendor is doing. A custom cake decorating shop to do the cake for the Founders Day Banquet that is part of the licensing program would be kinda tough to find, too.

I believe that the intent was to generate some revenue from the reputable sellers and provide a means to control the unlicensed vendors that were producing stuff that the fraternities and sororities would rather not have out in circulation.

[john1082]

I found the promotional materials that I was looking for. Misfiled.

The outfit is National Fraternity Suppliers in Eugene, Oregon.