# Can I use the Mona Lisa as my trademark?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-use-the-mona-lisa-as-my-trademark/654166>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [March 28, 2013, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-use-the-mona-lisa-as-my-trademark/654166 "2013-03-28T10:11:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-use-the-mona-lisa-as-my-trademark/654166/21 "2013-03-30T16:48:14Z")

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> [@Acsenray](#):
>
> The question is whether the OP’s use creates a likelihood of confusion with these other uses.

Trademark infringement isn’t an issue in tourist Nepal, so that’s probably not going to be a factor.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-use-the-mona-lisa-as-my-trademark/654166/22 "2013-03-30T16:55:15Z")

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Haven’t the courts ruled that a slavish copy of a work isn’t eligible for a new copyright? That would seem to cover most of the Mona Lisa postcards etc.

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**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-use-the-mona-lisa-as-my-trademark/654166/23 "2013-03-30T17:39:17Z")

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Yes, if a photograph does nothing but exactly and accurately reproduce a public domain work then it is not sufficiently original to be protected as an original and creative work of expression.

This creates an interesting sort of paradox, according to at[least one author](http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2171830):

> [@Terry S. Kogan](#):
>
> Despite years of training and experience, the professional museum photographer receives little respect from copyright law. His carefully crafted photographic reproductions of artwork are deemed unoriginal slavish copies, while he is styled a mere technician who fails to infuse those images with even a minimal degree of creativity. Vacationers’ amateur snapshots taken with point and-shoot cameras are considered original works, while the images of the professional museum photographer are deemed undeserving of copyright protection.

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**Author:** ![the\_O](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@the\_O](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_O)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-use-the-mona-lisa-as-my-trademark/654166/24 "2013-03-30T21:53:38Z")

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Allow me to chime in with a quick ‘Thank you.’ Thus place is an incredible resource, not only for entertainment, but for intellectual recreation as well.

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