Logo Retailing Can Pay Royalties to Byway Organization

Establishing a policy for use of a logo owned by the byway organization can lead to well-managed royalty income.

Who/What:

The byway organization representatives participating in the roundtable discussions for this project indicated an interest in developing royalty agreements to produce income from authorized use of their logos.

When/Where:

A royalty agreement can be established at any time for any organization-owned logo.

How:

In at least two instances byway organizations discovered that they did not have clear ownership to their byway’s logo. In one case, the organization commissioned an artist to create a logo design, but did not negotiate more than one-time use of the logo and so did not have the right to charge royalties for extended use. To obtain a byway-owned logo, the byway organization held a contest with clearly-defined rules that transferred the rights to the winning design to the byway organization. The organization has trademarked that logo.

Two logos appear on road signs along another byway: the byway organization charges royalties for one of those logos.

Because a logo appears on clothing and other items, at least one byway organization uses a policy and a contract to establish merchandising sales terms for dealers.

Funding Potential:

The funding potential varies by organization and contract.

Why Logo Royalties:

• Can be a long-term source of funding

• Support byway awareness-building

• Develop partnerships with byway region businesses as dealers

• Can lead to other merchandising opportunities, i.e., idea generation for new items

Resources:

American Society of Association Executives and The Center for Association Leadership - go to the Knowledge Resources section, Models and Samples collection to see documents from various associations, including a License of Association Logos to Members, Model Vendor Agreement, Model Royalty Agreement for Association Endorsements, Copyright License for Articles, Corporate Sponsorship Agreements.