Municipal logos: plagiarism or pure coincidence?

One moment, a municipality proudly unveils its new logo; the next, it faces accusations of plagiarism.

This recently happened to the municipality of Urk in The Netherlands. Their new logo features a stylized "U," outlined and rendered in two shades of blue. Controversy quickly arose, as the design was said to closely resemble the logo of the municipality of Terneuzen—a similarly outlined letter, in this case, a "T," also featuring various shades of blue.

Does this constitute copyright infringement? Urk’s mayor firmly denies any plagiarism, stating that the designer had never seen Terneuzen’s logo before, let alone copied it.

To determine whether copyright infringement has occurred, the first question is whether Terneuzen’s logo is protected under copyright law. For this to be the case in The Netherlands, the logo must meet certain criteria: it must have an original character and bear the personal imprint of its creator. This means it should not be derived from another work and must result from creative choices. Importantly, copyright does not protect the idea, in this respect, the idea of a stylized letter—only the specific execution, such as the choice of colors, composition, and typography. Given the creative decisions involved in Terneuzen’s logo, it is likely to be copyright-protected.

While the two logos share similarities at first glance, they also have significant differences. Media reports may quickly label such cases as plagiarism, but mere resemblance is not enough to establish infringement. The shape of the letters, precise color gradients, and composition are not identical. Based on this, it seems unlikely that Urk’s logo crosses the threshold of copyright violation. Sometimes, similarities are simply a coincidence!

Author: Erwin Haüer

Bio: Erwin is a trademark attorney and, as the managing partner, in charge of IT and Information Management. He works extensively with startups and scale-ups, while his clientele also includes numerous multinational corporations. Erwin possesses a sharp wit and a keen eye for remarkable trademark news and curious brand infringements.