Legal experts: dollar copyrighted?

S.H · Jan 23, 2009

Would it be legal for me to take a picture of a dollar bill and use a part of it (for instance the Eye of Providence) as a part of a logo?
- or would that be infringement of copyright laws, alternatively, a case of counterfeiting?

Thanks.

beast · Jan 23, 2009

Well the layout and design of US currency is a work of the United States Govt. so it is in the public domain. As for using bits and pieces from US currency may classify as counterfeiting.

I found this on Wikipedia

Important 3/4 & 1-1/2 U.S. Secret Service money illustration rules[hide]
Or not! As listed by the United States Secret Service at money illustrations, the Counterfeit Detection Act of 1992, Public Law 102-550, in Section 411 of Title 31 of the Code of Federal Regulations (31 CFR 411), permits color illustrations of U.S. currency provided:

1. The illustration is of a size less than three-fourths or more than one and one-half, in linear dimension, of each part of the item illustrated;
2. The illustration is one-sided; and
3. All negatives, plates, positives, digitized storage medium, graphic files, magnetic medium, optical storage devices, and any other thing used in the making of the illustration that contain an image of the illustration or any part thereof are destroyed and/or deleted or erased after their final use.

Important Copyright Information (Is this really PD?)[hide]
Or not! Certain coins contain copyrights licensed to the U.S. Mint and held by third parties or assigned to and held by the U.S. Mint [1]. For the United States Mint circulating coin design use policy, see [2]; for the policy on the 50 State Quarters, see [3]. For images of these coins, a fair use license template and rationale must be used.
Click to expand...

S.H · Jan 23, 2009

beast said: ↑

Well the layout and design of US currency is a work of the United States Govt. so it is in the public domain. As for using bits and pieces from US currency may classify as counterfeiting.

I found this on Wikipedia
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot.

I'm guessing this is the source: http://www.secretservice.gov/money_illustrations.shtml

This must mean that my original intention is no good idea. Better keep it safe

Thanks for the help!

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Legal experts: dollar copyrighted?

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