Dear Colleague
Some of you may know about this gif. If not I hope your find it as funny as I do. I made it by surfing the web for all Husky branded stuff. I found over 200! Isn’t amazing to think that all of these are covered by someone’s claim of a copyright**?
Here is why I made it. THE-Ave.US used to have a dog (drawn by me) and a W (from a font pak) as part of its header. We removed the puppie and double V after my brother, as part of a personal vendetta, complained to Provost Cauce and President Young that a puppie and W could mislead folks into thinking that THE-Ave.US is an official part of the UW. According to him, THE-Ave.US has terrible content … racism, pornography, religious bigotry … all, he claimed, under the beneficent UW logo
To quote my favorite movie, I was shocked, shocked.
Well, this got me to thinking. How unique is the UW Dawg and what determines who can use it? After all student organizations from the Young Republicans* to the Boycott Israel folks all use the UW name and symbols. Since we are all parts of the Husky Community, saying any part of that community can not use UW symbols seems as absurd as it would be to say the Democrats can not use the US flag! Hell, under the First Amendment, flag burning is free speech! Not that I suggest it, but I suspect burning a stuffed husky puppy dog is probably protected too!
Of course not all dawgs are equal. The UCONN huskies won an astonishing NCAA victory this year under their dawg, a more aggressive looking fellow than the UW’s swoopy imitation of the NIKE logo.
As for me, I think Husky hats for kids are so cool, I will buy one for my granddaughter in Oslo! I wonder how many folks there will recognize it as a UW symbol?
* I recommend their site. They get around the issue by describing themselves as “College Republicans AT the UW!” This is similar to THE-Ave.US that describes itself as “of campus but off campus.” On the other hand, the boycott group calls itself SuperUW. Maybe I should rename THE-Ave.US The UW?
** historically American copyright law began as a protection of symbols so everyone could have fair use. Today, as I (a non lawyer) understand the law, logos can be used by anyone to comment on the symbol or its owner as long as there is no effort to misappropriate the symbol and, of course, under the laws of slander, libel, and defamation.
Meantime, I think it is time for the UW faculty to join with the students and declare our right to use the Husky logo!