VeeFriends® is a contemporary entertainment company and global brand. The following is VeeFriends’ official intellectual property (“IP”) guidelines and terms of use including its trade names and trademarks, logos, copyrights and other works of authorship. These guidelines serve to provide clarity to our fans and community surrounding use of VeeFriends and its brands (e.g. VeeCon®) IP, particularly as it relates to our incredible fan base, community and partners.
What even is IP?
Intellectual property (a/k/a “IP”) refers to the creations of the mind, such as inventions, designs, symbols, names, and artistic works, which are protected by law and give exclusive rights to their creators and/or owners. It's like owning physical property, but instead of tangible objects, it involves intangible creations that have value and can be protected from unauthorized use. There are several types of intellectual property, including patents (for inventions and innovative processes), trademarks (for brand names and logos), copyrights (for creative works like movies, artwork, books and music), and trade secrets (confidential business information). Intellectual property helps creators and businesses safeguard their original ideas and ensures they can benefit from their hard work and investment.
VeeFriends Trademarks Examples
VeeFriends Copyright Examples
VeeFriends IP is owned by VeeFriends
The most important thing to know upfront is that all VeeFriends and VeeCon IP that is not authorized by VeeFriends to be used, is 100% not permitted and at times may require us to take affirmative steps to monitor and control use to protect our IP and Community. This includes the VeeFriends brand name, the VeeFriends Characters and VeeCon.
As mentioned in our Terms of Use, holders of VFNFTs (aka any VeeFriends NFTs) are granted an exclusive, limited license to the copyrighted imagery featured in their owned digital collectibles and includes the right to access, use or store your digital collectible. As a VFNFT holder, your license extends only to the imagery featured in your VFNFT(s) and does not include the right to use the VeeFriends name, logos, or trademarks (as defined above). Such imagery can be used solely for personal (such as usage on your social media profiles) and non-commercial purposes (more details below). For example, if you own the top left Genuine Giraffe™ VFNFT featured above, you only have a limited license to display the imagery featured in that specific VFNFT - you do not have a license to display any other iterations of the Genuine Giraffe™ or backgrounds not featured in the digital collectible(s) in your possession. You are not permitted to alter the imagery or make derivative works of such imagery. Unless otherwise specified, your purchase of a VeeFriends NFT does not give you the right to display, perform, distribute, sell or publicly reproduce the VeeFriends NFT or its contents for commercial purposes.
In order to continue to protect our community,customers, and expand the VeeFriends IP, we must protect the brand and its assets. Our goal is to provide our holders, community members and fans with information on the limited licensing rights they have and to be sure that our community and NFT holders have a clear understanding of the rules and the purpose for our trademark protection.
Why this matters to us 🫶
In order to become and remain successful, companies across the globe rely on the power of their brands to communicate the quality and distinctiveness of their products and services. Whether through trademarking names, logos, and slogans; creating copyrighted works; patenting product designs; or navigating issues on media platforms, businesses use intellectual property law to strategically build and protect their brands and market positions. Trademarks are often some of the most valuable assets of a company and infringement or dilution of a mark can hurt the brand, confuse the audience, and affect potential goodwill. The same is true for VeeFriends. In order for us to continue building the value of our brand and community, we must protect our IP . Our policy is not intended to diminish creativity, collaborations, or enthusiasm, in fact its motivations are the opposite. Our IP is one of our greatest strengths, and it provides value to the VeeFriends ecosystem and community. If VeeFriends does not protect its IP, we all lose the potential and impact VeeFriends brings as an IP.
Safety and Security 🔐
As you may know, there are many scams, fake products, and imposters or dupes across the web – particularly in the Web3 space. By enforcing our IP, we are able to highlight only those endeavors provided by or endorsed by us so that the community and public at large can confidently engage with only legitimate and secure VeeFriends endeavors. If there are products or services, events, and or social accounts that use VeeFriends IP and images, it can be hard to know what is officially from VeeFriends and what is not. This effort is to eliminate that confusion, and bring enhanced clarity.
What are my rights as a VeeFriends NFT Holder? 🤝
As a VeeFriends NFT holder, you are granted a personal license to solely the VeeFriends NFT and the image contained in it (this limited license does not include any other characters, scenery or any other derivative rights or content). Commercial use of VeeFriends’ IP and any VeeFriends NFT is prohibited and any other use of VeeFriend’s IP is a violation of this policy and IP infringement.
“Commercial use” is any use:
- that involves an exchange of money or other consideration.
- that promotes a business (e.g., sole proprietorship, corporation, or partnership).
- Where financial gain or other consideration is either sought or a result, directly or indirectly, of your use of the IP.
- Use that may cause another to believe that you, your product(s) or services are affiliated or endorsed by VeeFriends in any way.
- Use in-demand applications, like Print-on-Demand and Create-on-Demand Services, even for non-commercial use.
- Use in software development, such as website software development, mobile app development, desktop application development, or video game development.
- Use in physical (printed, paid or unpaid) advertising, such as billboards, signage, printed advertisement, etc. This is prohibited for Commercial use AND Non-commercial use.
- Part of a trademark, service mark, design mark, trade name, business name, logo, or similar use.
- Claim the Licensed Asset itself as its own copyrighted work.
- Trademark an End Product. The Licensed Asset may not be used as part of a trademark, service mark, design mark, or trade-name. You may not register, protect, or enforce any trademark or similar rights on the Licensed Asset.
- Copyright a Licensed Asset. You may not claim a Licensed Asset (or a modification of it) as its own copyrighted work. You must disclaim the original Licensed Asset in any copyright registration.
Short FAQ's
What IP rights do I have as a VeeFriends NFT holder?
You have an exclusive, limited license to the VeeFriends NFT (“VFNFT”) that you own. Usage of the VFNFT and its content are limited to personal and non-commercial purposes. Unless otherwise specified, your purchase of a VeeFriends digital collectible does not give you the right to display, perform, distribute, sell or publicly reproduce the VFNFT or its contents for commercial purposes.
What are examples of personal and non-commercial purposes?
The limited license to VeeFriends digital collectibles is similar to the rights you would receive when, for example, purchasing a book. You can view your digital collectible, put an image of it as your social media profile picture or keep it in your personal collection.
However, you do not receive any rights to the underlying work. VeeFriends retains the exclusive rights to display, perform, distribute, sell and publicly reproduce its digital collectibles for commercial purposes.
Can I make fan art/content?
You can use VeeFriends’ IP (except for the restrictions listed in below) to make fan content that you share with the community for free. Free means FREE:
- You can’t require payments, surveys, downloads, subscriptions, or email registration to access your fan content;
- You can’t sell or license your fan content to any third parties for any type of compensation; and
- Your fan content must be free for others (including VeeFriends) to view, access, share, and use without paying you anything, obtaining your approval, or giving you credit.
You can not use VeeFriends’ logos and trademarks. Don’t use VeeFriends’ video or music in your fan content. Please don’t use any of our video or music content, unless you’re embedding a video from an authorized third-party’s website (e.g., Twitch or YouTube). You must tell the community that your fan content is unofficial. Make it clear that your fan content is not endorsed or sponsored by VeeFriends—i.e., unofficial. Please include a note with your fan content explaining that: “[Title of Your Fan Content] is unofficial fan content permitted under the VeeFriends IP and Trademark Guidelines. Not approved/endorsed by VeeFriends. Portions of the materials used are property of VeeFriends. ©VeeFriends, LLC.” Please respect other people’s IP. If you don’t have the rights to use another person’s stuff in your fan content—don’t. If we learn that your fan content also includes other people’s IP (e.g., crossovers/mashups) without their permission, we may ask you to take it down.
May I put the VeeFriends or VeeCon logo on a t-shirt or a hat?
Unfortunately, you can not. You would need permission from us for that. You may not incorporate any VeeFriends logos and trademarks in your content or merchandise without our prior, written consent.
What are VeeFriends plans for the IP?
VeeFriends’ 283 characters were minted on the ethereum blockchain to create unprecedented opportunities for utility, collectibility, and community building. The characters and artwork in the digital collectibles are part of VeeFriends’ intellectual property, which also includes company trademarks, logos, copyrights, other products and artwork, and VeeCon trademarks (the “IP”). VeeFriends is in the process of scaling its IP and developing its 283 characters to make soft skills cool and create a global movement of positivity, kindness and accountability. The characters are being brought to life in different forms of media, digital and physical collectibles, entertainment and more. We hope this brings transparency and clarity to VeeFriends IP and the reasons on why we are passionate about protecting our intellectual property, protecting our VeeFriends Community, and continuing to build a brighter future with the help of our VeeFriends! If you have any questions around VeeFriends IP, you can always email us directly at: support@veefriends.com.