Copyright Aid

Hi,

I wrote an article for my blog which is about food and health.

I took a few photos of the following for the blog post and would like to know what I could or can do or add to make it permissable:


1- TESCO EXPRESS and ESSO FUELS LOGO : I took pictures of the price of fuel sign outside Tesco Express which showed the Tesco Express and Esso logos and also took a photo of Mobil 1 Engine Oil

2- MASERATI / MERCEDES / PRIUS / PORSCHE LOGOS : I took photos of the logos of cars next to the roads near my house.


In this blog post I use these images to illustrate certain points in relation to slow and fast metabolism with regards to health.

I wrote this blog post and used these images as comparison in relation to difference between slow and fast metabolism and used the themes of cars as a metaphor to illustrate this.

How or what can I do to avoid being sued or taken to court in relation to the above ?


Thanks

Hi symbion1,
This is a similar situation to your earlier questions, and as the only issue here is that of copyright (using trade marks in this way is not an issue under trade mark law) your use needs to be looked at in the context of the fair dealing exemptions, principally the section 30 one for criticism or review. And as with your question in this previous thread, I think it is unlikely that this would be fair dealing because you are using these images as illustrations (or possibly metaphors) for the comparisons and not actually reviewing or criticising the copyright works themselves, which is essentially what Section 30 is for.
That said I don't see any of these big companies being offended enough to resort to litigation. If they have a problem with your use of their logos they will probably just contact you and ask you to take them down. Should they choose to sue, I think the courts would feel that this was a sledgehammer vs nut situation, especially if they had not first tried any form of mediation, and you might well be able to persuade the court to dismiss any action as de minimis, ie too trifling for the court to waste their time over.