A spoof driving test posted on a website
by a Christ Church student prompted the driving
Standards Agency (DSA) to threaten legal action for the unauthorised use of the
company’s official logo. The threat was outlined in a letter sent last month to
third year physicist Andrew Steele, the student responsible for the ‘blog’. The
letter, which was received on 30 September, called Steele’s use of the DSA logo
an infringement of the DSA’s rights contrary to the Trade Marks Act 1994, as
well as being an infringement of [their] copyright”. The letter went on to request
Steele to remove the DSA logo from the spoof theory test and for them to agree “not
to make use of the DSA’s property rights in the future”. Steele said he was “a bit
surprised because the theory test has been online for two to three years.” The
letter requested that the logo be removed by 22 September, but was itself dated
28 September. Steele promptly replied to the letter, concerned that it may have
sent by an individual or group impersonating the DSA due to the mistakes with
the dates, the misspelling of their address and the lack of a reference code on
the letter.Within five working days he had
received a response assuring that the letter was in fact from the DSA, as well
as an apology for the mistake regarding the dates, stating that they had meant
to set the deadline of 22 October. Following the response, Steele edited the DSA
logo, and continued to use the edited version. However, the commercial director
of DSA contacted Steele saying that he did not “find the logo acceptable given the
use of colour and style”, as the colours still matched those used by the DSA.
The DSA appeared to be offended by the spoof test, aside from the fact that
their logo was being used, saying, “Road safety is a matter taken very
seriously by the DSA and you are clearly treating this serious subject as a
light hearted one.”Steele then changed the logo, an action
noted by the DSA. However, the commercial director writing to Steele asserted
that the problem of the spoof theory test, posted online, put a “sarcastic slant
on the theory test”, and that the DSA “does not approve of or endorse [Steele’s]
‘Mock Theory Test’ in any way”. Steele said he “thought it was a bit
ridiculous that [the DSA was] wasting government time and resourceschasing up satirical student websites.”
He went on to add that “it’s what you would expect from a headmaster at a
boarding school rather than an official government organisation”.‘Blogs’ or weblogs are personal web
spaces usually containing periodic journal-style entries which may be used to
promote the views of individuals or political campaigns, media programmes and corporations.
Many blogs enable visitors to leave public comments.ARCHIVE: 3rd week MT 2005
DSA logo in website raises legal questions
