Attorneys have notified that as long as pictures are taken from public space of publicly displayed signs and there is no misuse of the business name this letter art is legal to sell.

Excerpt from attorney letter addressing a business accusation of infringement by Your Life Letters follows.


Your Life Letters is an art-project based business in which publicly - viewable signs, logos etc. are photographed and a single letter from the sign / logo is featured in color prints and tiles. Purchasers typically buy products with various letters that spell words or names of their choosing, resulting in the purchasers’ words / names having letters with different fonts. Your Life Letters are a modern remaking of the craft of writing messages with individual letters cut out of magazines. In order to give the consumer a point of reference, the providence of each letter, a small image of original sign / logo is placed at the bottom of the print / tile. This is not trademark infringement. It is a fair use of the various signs / logos. The use of the signs / logos on the prints and tiles is informational. No one viewing my client’s goods will think that the companies referenced in the goods made or endorsed the goods. My client’s use of these signs and logos are not trademark uses, they are artistic uses. And my client’s use of these signs and logos is not disparaging in the least; rather, they celebrate the signs and logos that are part of everyone’s visual landscape. This is both “classic fair use” and “nominative fair use” of the signs / logos as those terms are understood in trademark jurisprudence. See McCarthy on Trademarks and Unfair Competition, Fifth Edition, 23.11 Non-confusing nominative fair use.