Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My son did his science fair project on the Effects of Dr. Pepper. He placed 2nd at his local school. This is the first year his school has conducted a science fair. The coordinator is worried about going to district with his board like it is. We used the actual Dr. Pepper logo, from the Dr. Pepper facebook page, on the board. Do you know if that will be aloud?

Hi - This is an interesting question and certainly something to take into consideration on the board.

First, congratulations to your son on his success at the school fair. That is great. I am sure he is excited about the next level of competition.

I can't give legal advice about the board contents or the fair rules for your district. But a few things to keep in mind --

-- He might want to use photos of the cans or bottles of Dr. Pepper from his testing rather than the logo.

-- The logo is a trademarked brand element, and you do want to be sure somewhere on the board that he attributes it properly if it is used. You can visit the Dr. Pepper site and look at the very bottom of the page to see how it gets written.

This site might also be helpful to you, although you may certainly want to do additional research: http://www.siliconvalleyiplicensinglaw. ... ies-logos/

In particular, look at the section that explains "fair use":

"[T]he fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright."

Again, this is not intended as legal advice, but I hope this helps as your son works on his board for the district fair.

Amy
Science Buddies