Social media icons are everywhere online. But some are being used in violation of trademark and permissions. Read on to find free social media icons that you can use worry-free.
The social media logos that you often see at the bottom of websites, business cards, and social media graphics are best known as social media icons.
Though social media icons have become universal across the web, you might be surprised to know that many businesses and social media agencies are inadvertently putting themselves at risk by using these logos incorrectly. Unlike generic images (which fall under different copyright laws), logos are subject to trademark. That is the highest level of protection a company can have. Trademarks ensure that the intellectual property of a brand is respected.
So, the next time you plan to put a logo or other trademarked image on your marketing, make sure you follow guidelines.
Though guidelines vary by brand, typically most brand guidelines include:
The details of the trademark and permissions for each set of social media icons are based on the rules established by each individual brand.
We don’t want to name any names, but you don’t have to look far to find businesses that break these rules.
Some common ways that businesses misuse social media icons include …
Now that you know what you are looking for, do you have some serious changes to make?
Then take the steps below to help you start being in compliance.
Facebook provides separate icons for Facebook and for Facebook messenger. It is crucial that you use the correct logos.
For online uses (such as your website or social media), you can use the downloadable logos that Facebook provides. However, you always have to ask permission first for some use cases. Those include …
If you are using the Facebook logo or other brand assets on any of these items, you can submit a request in English to Facebook for review.
For cases that don’t need special permission, you can download the circle logo, “Find us on Facebook,” and an official Facebook “like” from their brand resources.
Before you are allowed to download, you have to select that you have read and reviewed Facebook’s brand guidelines in full.
Though Facebook strongly prefers that you stick to its branded blue color, it does allow you to change it to black or white if you can’t use the blue for some design reason. Facebook includes black and white versions of the logo in the branding package when you download it.
All of the standard guidelines listed in the beginning apply.
In addition, some other important things to keep in mind are …
Twitter not only provides downloadable icons in its brand resources but also guidelines on fonts and templates for hashtags and Tweet mockups.
In addition to using the images they provide, you will also want to keep in mind the following.
Unlike Facebook, which gives you the brand guidelines before allowing you to download the images, Twitter includes the full brand guidelines in a PDF with the images.
You can find more specifics there including the minimum pixel size of the Twitter logo and more examples of misuse to help you understand how to correctly use the Twitter brand.
Instagram is owned by Facebook, so a lot of similar branding guidelines exist between the two brands. However, a few things are unique to Instagram. (You can see all the details on their brand guidelines page. That is also where you can download the logo and visual assets.)
Just like Facebook, Instagram has situations that always require special permission, even when using the approved brand images, such as:
When you submit your request, it needs to be in English and include a mockup of what your intended use will look like.
For other applications, you can use the images they provide while following these rules:
When in doubt, ask!
It might surprise you to know that YouTube requires approval for all uses of its brand image. Though YouTube does provide general guidelines, they are meant to help you research and make mock-ups rather than to serve as permission by itself.
To get permission, you need to fill out a form request for each use case.
The one exception is that press can use the logo for their journalistic efforts, as long as they follow the brand guidelines.
In some ways, YouTube is restrictive in the use of its brand, but it also wants to promote an open creator culture. To that end, they require that you only use “YouTuber” or “Tuber” casually and do not include those words as part of your own products or trademarks so that they remain open to everyone who creates original content for YouTube.
LinkedIn has a reputation for being the most serious and professional brand, and its brand guidelines are pretty straightforward.
The LinkedIn logos available for download include the standard versions as well as versions with Chinese characters.
When using the LinkedIn trademark here are some of the guidelines to keep in mind:
Many of the guidelines from one brand to another are similar, but if you using logos, you should take the time to understand each of the guidelines for your particular use.
Now that you know what you need to do, it is time to take action! Take stock of where you are at right now and what you need to update or change.
Remember that some of these things are team-wide, like email signatures. So you will want to create guidelines and send them to every team member.
Doing a social media audit is a good practice to implement regularly. You may even want to offer this as a new service to your clients if you are a social media agency.
Have you seen examples of illegal use of social media icons?
In reality, you can’t know for sure if any apparent misuse you online is actually a problem. It is possible that the business in question may have asked for special permission from Twitter or LinkedIn. Don’t assume that because “everyone is doing it” that you can break the rules.
You don’t know what agreements are in place for other brands, but you do know whether you have gotten written permission for an exception from each social media platform. Like jaywalking, the fact that it is a widespread breaking of the law doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.
You are more likely to be penalized if:
There are many nuances of this. Ultimately, only a lawyer is qualified to tell you what you stand to lose and how likely you are to get sued. (After all, this article is meant as an overview, not legal counsel.) But you can avoid all those legal fees and possible issues by following the rules in the first place. It is easy and free to be compliant, so why not?
* * *
Want more helpful, actionable content like this? Subscribe to the Agorapulse newsletter, and get the most recent blog posts and news about the social media channels you use most.