This is probably appropriate for a lawyer, but I'm hoping to find some guidance. At the request of Church leadership, my family recently created a video to encourage people to return to Mass.

After completing the video, a staff member identified several instances of potential copyright/trademark infringements. For example, my son had an A&M hat on. There was a Coca Cola in the background. We videoed ourselves eating at a restaurant and going to other public places.

So it was suggested that we get permission from half a dozen corporate entities to allow their brands in the video. This is a 1.5 minute video edited in "iMovie". I've watched many, many videos on YouTube from various bloggers (i.e., Dude Perfect) and see dozens of brands.

I just seems like common brands, public places, and even clothes, would not need to go through this process. Otherwise, YouTube is technically a goldmine for trademark infringement.

So is there a way around this without shooting videos naked and in the woods? Or, could we just post the video as a private citizen to the Church's social media pages with some sort of disclaimer saying the video was not created by the Church?

Church can't figure out why attendance is down.

Destroys volunteer's attempt to help.

Also, what does the church fear? At the most, one of those institutions (who should understand fair use) would just ask you to take that video down. Sounds like the church is doing that for them.

Does your congregation have any lawyers, clerks, judges, legal assistants, or paralegals?
If so, send it to them and double check.


I AM NOT A LAWYER
However, it is unlikely it would ever be a problem. Y'all aren't trying to sell a product or monetize the video, you aren't explicitly mentioning the brands/products/items, y'all aren't using their slogans or making logos out of their stuff.. You are probably fine.

There are some fine aggie lawyers in this community that might be able to help though.

Here is some background on fair use. https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html

I am not a lawyer, but do deal in copyright. Almost every factor related to the analysis weighs heavily for fair use.

I personally wouldn't worry about it.