Can local little league create original logos/script and name teams without fear of copyright suits?

Almnost non of this is going to have anything to do with copyrights, which protect pictures, writings, music and teh like. Names can not be copyright protected. But trademarks, there is the rub. It is going to take some work, but you will need, for example, to see if there is a sports team nearby that calls itself, in your example, the Knights. Look first on Google or Bing, then at USPTO.gov They have a system called TESS that allows one to look up trade names like Knights. Technically, one can also look up a logo to see if someone has registered a trademark like one you plan to use, for a sports team and nearby. You will need to do some treading to understand how they organize graphic images into something that can be searched for. Now, what is nearby? The basic issue is confusion. If someone might confuse your little league team with a baseball team playing class A minor league baseball in the next county, you have a problem. At least you need then to ask their permission. (Do not sneak--it will only get somebody's dander up.) If this is too confusing, then it would be best to see if there is someone around--a friend maybe of a parent--who is a trademark lawyer and who might donate some time in a good cause.

The big issue is whether people will be confused about who the name represents. Will someone load their family into the car, head out to the field expecting to see one team and a completely different team by the same name plays. The best names for trademark purposes are typically ones that are completely made up (Kleenex for facial tissue) or the pairing of unrelated words (Arctic Monkeys for a band). The more unique and random, the less likely there is another team out there using the same or a similar name. The team members might have fun coming up with the unexpected word pairings (Flying Mustangs, Robot Mustangs, Ninja Mustangs. . .you get the idea). As for logo designs, the logo itself would be protected by copyright law. By default, the person who designs the logo will own the copyright in that particular design. If you use the design without addressing ownership first you could be infringing on the copyright. When you use the design to represent your team (people see the logo - they think of your team) it is functioning as a trademark. There are so many areas that you will want to be sure to address when you set up the new names and logos; you should really have an in-depth conversation with an attorney about all of this. Maybe contact a nearby attorney who practices in this area and offer them naming rights in a team in return for some legal assistance. . .

Lets break this one down: "little league" Is the little league a person, entity, LLC, corporation? (not a dba). IF so, it can own IP. "create original logos" A logo is a symbol which is typically trademark that goes with a good or service. What is the good or service? Is creation of distinctive service logos contrary to the little league membership? "script" Script is typically text. Same considerations for (1) entity and (2) your license/contract with "Little League" headquarters. "name teams" What does your contract with little league say. "without fear of copyright suits". There is no guarantee of copyright suits, either from other teams or from Little League national. Consider incorporating, and then purchasing commercial liability insurance, and then insuring that you have insurance with an advertising clause, and that you have E&O insurance for the entity officers, consider filing the entity as a nonprofit, and much more actions to protect partcipants from outside lawsuits. Good Luck...

Your problem is not under copyright law. The issue you face is under trademark law. A tradmark is a name or logo that becomes associated with a particular product or service. A baseball team is a product, and names of teams (whether major league, minor league or college) can, and usually are be protected under trademark law. Trademark rights arise from use in commerce, but it is helpful for procedural and litigation reasons to apply for trademark protection with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The main purpose of trademark law is to avoid consumer confusion, and the main issue in most trademark disputes is whether use of someone's trademark creates a likelihood of consumer confusion. Another issue that often arises is whether use of the trademark by someone causes dilution of the value of the trademark for the trademark owner. Owners of famous trademarks (like the Yankees or Red Sox) are often aggressive in enforcing their rights, in part because they fear that use of the trademarks by others will dilute their value, damage the reputation associated with the mark, and otherwise make it harder for them to take full advantage of the goodwill associated with the trademark. What does this mumbo jumbo mean for you---? Unfortunately, whenever you pick a name or logo for a team, you need to consider whether the team's use of the name and logo would violate trademark rights of others, or whether logo used by the team is sufficiently original as to avoid consumer confusion or dilution. This is not always a simple and easy matter----I recently had a client in the fashion industry tell me that there was no possible way that there could be consumer confusion between her new trademark for a line of clothes and the trademark that had the same sound by different lettering for a pre-existing line of clothers---but the trademark examiner and court disagreed with her. The executives who run the local little league would be well-advised to find a trademark lawyer to assist them in determining whether use of the proposed logos or trademarks could cause a problem. But in the final analysis, the only way to know for sure is to obtain licenses or permissions from the owners of the trademarks----while I have not checked, I have little doubt that someone out there holds trademarks and/or logos incorporating the word "knights" for a sports team. if you want to the word "knights" the only safe way to proceed is to get permission rom the trademark owners,

The answer really is YES you can do that without fear of trademark suit (the issue is trademarks, and more specifically service marks, not copyrights), but you have to make sure your logos do not parrot any other team. For example if it is the Redbirds or Cardinals, do not have the bat with bird logo or the special script style or red & white colors. If it is Yankees, do not have pinstripes or any NY logos, and preferably use colors rather than black & white. If it is Dodgers, try not to use blue. The same for any other MLB, minor league, or college team. Using more original names will make this even safer, again provided you do not copy colors or logos. Most college or professional or high schools are not going to sue a little league team provided the names are used in a generic style with colors different than the team having registration of the same name. Such suits would hurt the image of a bigger team. Asking permission of the similarly named larger team will usually resolve any potential issue. So, contrary to the advice of my colleagues, I think that you can generally freely select a Little League team name without fear of suit provided you do it in a generic style. Also, another thing to keep in mind is not to use any local business's name without their being an actual sponsor as that will likely draw objection. Besides, you probably want to have a business sponsor you. One common option is to get a business sponsor and combine the team name with the sponsor using a rhyme. For example The Smith Grocery Smokers or the Harnsworth Houndogs or the Robertson Redbirds, since that makes it clear you are associated with that sponsor not the more well known team of the same name.