Red Bull says no!

Tench745

Master member
I think y'all are giving Red Bull a bit of a hard time about this. It's their trademark, they should be allowed to say what happens with it; that's the point of a trademark.
Aside from that, think about what sorts of things Red Bull does associate with: Extreme Sports and the like; mountain biking, aerobatic teams both RC and full scale, wing suit flying, BMX, etc etc. But they only endorse groups that have proven they can do these very dangerous things safely. Now let's say you throw their paint scheme and logo on some giant FT plane and accidentally crash it into a crowd of bystanders. Their logo was on that plane which makes them look bad even though they didn't put it there. Then someone comes after them for monetary compensation and they have to defend themselves in court. Blah, blah, blah... it's easier to just say no to everyone.
 

nhk750

Aviation Enthusiast
I may just make my own, I learned the problem is not having the RB on your model, it’s other people making and selling it for a profit. Since my model is not in competition and not profit, I can put anything I like on it as there is something called freedom of speach in the USA. But, if it’s used comercially then thats where the problem lies. I spoke with an attorney friend of mine about this.
 

AkimboGlueGuns

Biplane Guy
Mentor
I may just make my own, I learned the problem is not having the RB on your model, it’s other people making and selling it for a profit. Since my model is not in competition and not profit, I can put anything I like on it as there is something called freedom of speach in the USA. But, if it’s used comercially then thats where the problem lies. I spoke with an attorney friend of mine about this.

Yeah, this is what I was getting at. Trademark does not ban not for profit personal use of a logo, only if it's being used to make money. I'm sure their PR team is just playing legal hardball to keep them out of any hot water, but you may not want to fly their banner considering how they treat hobbyists building a replica.
 

Kingearwig

New member
If you fly a plane with red bull logos on it into someone's house and get on the news it will be a legal issue because at that point you will have harmed redbull's image.
 

nhk750

Aviation Enthusiast
Exactly, that's why I am stop worrying about it and "just do it", like Nike says...oh crap, I did it again...
 

mayan

Legendary member
I also think that they don't have ground for a law suit unless you start selling out planes with their logos, and even then it would be hard to prove that you sold it with the logo and that the logo was not added later by the buyer.
 

nhk750

Aviation Enthusiast
Can you imagine the headlines, "RB sues man for building rc airplane and makes him homeless."
 

SlingShot

Maneuvering With Purpose
I've heard about Red Bull doing that to a few other people, but I don't think they have a legal leg to stand on. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it would only be against the law if you were to distribute the logo, or use it for commercial purposes. As long as you do not make money I think the logo falls under fair use. I would think that having a logo appear in a You Tube video or some other monetized media would probably be a larger interest since the reach would likely be wider. Either way, I'm sure the Red Bull lawyers have better uses of their time other than to go after hobbyists wanting to build a replica of one of their airplanes, so if you find a way to either make the graphics yourself or someone willing to make them I doubt you would run into any trouble. That or just misspell Red Bull (Rad Bull?) just to irritate them.

As for Flite Test, I think since they were sponsored to run that contest they were given permission to use the logo for commercial uses.

Commercial use is the key. Callie can't make them for you. But you certainly can do it. Without fear.

Check out: The Fair Use Doctrine