Boatyard Burgee Designs.

maynard · August 26

One for the more knowledgeable I guess but are the various burgee designs such as the Loynes white star on a blue background officially registered and copyright to that company/boatyard? There are so many variations out there that I'm thinking there has to be an official register to prevent overlap/clash.

Nerdy question but any idea please?

maynard · August 27

No legal minds?

Broads Authority regulations? Company registration?

dom · August 27

Patents have to be registered, but copyright can be established more easily.

Back in the days when Blakes and Hoseasons dominated, there'd be a page or two in brochures with a list of pennants. If someone ever stole another yard's branding, the original owner would be able to prove the fact quite easily by simply showing the brochure for a preceeding year. As that's the case, there would never be a need for any sort of registration, and there never was any as far as I'm aware.

Apart from anything else, yards with the same agency generally got along really well, helping each other out on a regular basis. There were distinct loyalties and definite competition, but never any real animosity that I ever saw, even between yards from different agencies. At the end of the day, breakdowns were common and if one happened to occur on a wild mooring near a yard with another agency, you'd still want to be able to borrow a slipway to launch a dinghy or similar.

maynard · August 27

Thank you Dom. I have been reading up on the purpose of these beyond simply being a 'team badge' and it doesn't appear to be anything beyond that really. Copyrights are registered to protect the design and I believe they can be lodged free of charge.

As you may guess my line is design work!