any time you copy trademarked or copyrighted work without the permission from the person that owns the art work its infringment. If you cant get the corp. offices permission to use it .. you can get in trouble.

 

Unless maybe part of the franchise agreement allows for such things, but probably not.

 

I would at the very least get some form of written indemnification, saying that the store owner/manager is responsible for its use and they consent the permission to use, along with their signature, title, date and site id#. If they haven't submitted you digital artwork of the logo, tell them you need access to it at its original location if possible. Lot of the hotel chains I've dealt with in the past will store their logo's on a webserver, along with usage guidelines.

 

The franchiser would probably get the franchise taken off him for buying from outside sources, this is how the master franchise makes its money. They 'own' everything and can usually come in and just take the franchise back if there are any infringements. I used to work for a very large opticians franchise and one day without warning the 'big bosses people' turned up and took the franchise off the two 'owners' and they had to leave straight away without talking to any staff!

I would think because it's a registered trademark you would get in trouble without written permission from the master franchise.

Lee

 

Please talk to a lawyer about this. It's not really a good idea to get legal advice from a forum.

Even if we all said "sure, it's 100% fine". what happens if you take that advice and still get sued?

Better to get paid legal advice from the start if you even have to ask the question.