Ron Daniels wrote: - I don't see non government entities carrying around government seals. I mean the local Pest Inspector is regulated by the EPA and OSHA, but his Orkin namebadge doesn't have all those seals.
Exactly why I don't think they'd care. No one else does is so we're not trying to "Pass" for anything.
Not to mention the use of the logo itself isn't illegal, its the attempt to pass it as official. For example you can go to a surplus store and get a shirt that says POLICE or a full military uniform. You can also wear them on the street. Same goes for my aforementioned xfiles FBI badge, and these logos in question. The legal line is crossed when you present yourself as official.
But even though I WOULD, I'll yeild that maybe you dont want to go as far as using the REAL EPA logo...of course the GBI RPG used a fake EPA logo on a photocopyable (sp?) document you were supposed to sign, so a fake logo is doable and COMPLETELY non-criminal
A good example is this guy we had on the news a while back. He owned an old police car and was caught sitting in it on the side of the road as if he were an officer patrolling traffic. When a REAL officer investigated he found the guy wearing a flak vest with "Department of Homefront Security" on it (yes homefront not homeland) He had a matching badge, cuffs, a billy club, and a glock 9mm. He was arrested and put on the news, charged with impersonation......then the charges were dropped because he hadn't actually pulled anyone over or said he was a cop, his badge belonged to a non-existant organization, and the firearm was legally owned and stored. He is now suing the city which plans to settle out of court.
Granted this is an extreme example and this guy PROBABLY was up to no good. But the point is he broke NO laws BECAUSE he used the emblems of a non-existant agency.
Basically saying a fake group was authorized by another fake group on a tag is no big deal. Besides, we don't have the rights to the Ghostbusters logo, and I'm sure Sony would be more keen on suing over merchandising than the Environmental Protection Agency would.