Okay, I paid a guy for a quick logo to stick on one of my sites. He asked for examples of logos that I like, so I sent him a list of logos that I think look professional and get the point across. The list was made of up logos from websites and from design contests. He sent his finished product back to me a few days later, and it looks a LOT like one of the logo examples that I sent him. Close to the same colors, VERY similar icon. What should I do? I like the logo, it looks fantastic. But is this a problem? Thanks!
Depends if he stole something trademarked. If not, it's all yours as long as it has a twist on it and does not contain anything LEGALLY BINDING to another company. You should be okay considering the limited amount of fonts, symbols and positioning that can be possibly done with a logo. Good luck.
It should not be an issue as long as you are not active at the same business area as these companies are. Of course, trademarks and other things also play a role. I think you have two choices: 1. Keep the logo as it is and consult a specialized lawyer providing some advise to you. Or simply take the risk and use it without any further clarification of the legal situation... 2. Ask the designer to create a new logo, which is truly unique to your business. Some similarities may be always there (today you cannot create a logo that was never there, it all repeats...), but as long as it is not too obvious, there shouldn't be an issue.
You have to consider both trademark and copyright issues here. Copyright issues in that he may have just taken the images from another site without permission and modified them to look different instead of making a new logo from scratch. You have to worry about trademarks if the symbol/figure in the logo is marked. I would try to get your money back but not matter what pay someone to design a new logo.