Using a minor league teams logo?

I do believe you have to get permission to use a copyright-owned logo, especially for a recreational team. "Making a profit or not" only refers to a portion of a copyright agreement, which is commercial vs non-commercial. It's a way that the logo owner can make sure the logos aren't being used to harm or hurt the reputation of the team the logo is representing, and still follows their own guidelines (most don't allow modification of the logo unless it's minor).

So in short, ask permission. The chances of you getting caught using it by some member of that organization or team may be slim, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Further reading...(LINK )

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Most likely if you are using it for non-commercial use, you'd get a letter from their lawyer telling you to stop using it or else they'll pursue legal action. Even if it's a derivative of the logo and they can formulate enough proof to show how similar the logos are, they'd do that. It's not in their best interest to sue them and the legal fees alone would be merit enough to handle the case outside of court. But if you either used the logo and added something that hurts their image or gained a profit on it, they'd probably seek financial retribution or threaten to sue for more.


Note: I produce videos and have had to always bear the copyright law in mind. Creative Commons and Public Domain are a lot easier to deal with than full copyright, trademark licenses, etc. Only "fair use" can save you against those and "fair use" can easily be proven for or against by a lawyer.