Do we have a contract with LEGO®?
No. And you probably don’t want us to! Let me explain…
One of the questions I’m very often asked is ‘do we have a contract with LEGO to use their bricks?’. Usually the concern is around copyright, marketing and the worry that you might somehow get into trouble by displaying an exhibition of things made in LEGO bricks. I can assure you that it has never been a problem for any Warren Elsmore Ltd project and, assuming that you follow our brand guidelines, it shouldn’t be for you either.
I should note that this is written from Warren as a personal point of view. I am not a lawyer and observations are made based only on my personal knowledge and experiences.
TL:DR version
LEGO are absolutely fine with what we do. In fact, they have a statement to that effect here. Just make sure to follow the Warren Elsmore brand guidelines and there won’t be any problems! For more information, please read on:
Some background
Charging people to see LEGO models is something that’s been happening for a long time. I, along with thousands of other fans around the world, have been displaying LEGO models to the public for well over a decade. My first public show was, I think, in 2006.
Almost always, these displays require some sort of renumeration in the form of an entrance fee. The LEGO Group (the company that owns and operates the LEGO toy brand) are obviously aware of this and have even gone so far as to host their own public events over the years. So, displaying models made from LEGO bricks is something that the company has shown no issue with over the years. As far as they are concerned, a museum hosting one of our shows is no different to a local town hall hosting a LEGO fan event. All is fine, assuming some common sense measures are taken.
On a more personal level, we’ve been in the LEGO ecosphere for almost as long as we’ve been fans. They know who we are, what we do and have never expressed any concerns. In fact, I’ve produced models for The LEGO Group on more than one occasion and have personally met the owning family more than once.
Do we need permission from LEGO?
Absolutely not. This is important. Nothing that we do will ever require permission from The LEGO Group - unless it’s work for The LEGO Group itself, and they require it (yes, LEGO are one of our customers too). It probably helps to add an analogy here. We use LEGO bricks in the same way that a carpenter uses wood. Or that the Aardman studio use Plasticene. The bricks that we use are simply a medium. We never suggest that the company has done anything other than mold the bricks. This gives a clear distinction. The LEGO Group are simply a supplier of ours. They don’t create the content.
It’s also worth remembering that we don’t only use LEGO bricks. Depending on the project, we may use bricks from a number of different toy brick suppliers. Plus, our models may contain steel, wood, electronics etc. None of that will come from The LEGO Group. In fact, if you prefer, we can use 100% non-LEGO bricks. In many circumstances it doesn’t affect the final product at all. You are receiving a model made from toy bricks. That’s alll.
So will The LEGO Group partner with us on this project?
In short, maybe, but almost certainly not. As a large global company, The LEGO Group are very selective about who they work with. For any official collaboration, they are very cautious as to where their brand (the Red ‘LEGO’ square) is displayed. This extends to any partners, but also to how it’s used in retail, advertising etc. Attitudes change towards who is an acceptable partner too. So, whilst you’ll see a global agreement with the FIA for instance, you’ll probably never now see a partnership with Shell. Sports are deemed OK, petroleum products are not.
Of course, The LEGO Group do work with licensed brands all the time. Star Wars is the obvious example - as well as current licenses like Fortnite. Where you will see LEGO as a company work with a brand is where the brand will help them sell product (off the shelf LEGO sets) around the world. It’s true that in the past The LEGO Group has partnered with giants such as Vestas and Maersk to produce sets for their mainly internal use. Even these partnerships no longer happen (in fact Maersk is now one of our customers).
I should also mention that a typical engagement with The LEGO Company lasts multi years and takes 3-6 months to agree once they are in agreement. I’ve never heard of The LEGO Group partnering with an external company as a one-off event. Thats when they involve us!
Don’t LEGO have copyright of the bricks?
No, and they haven’t for some time. In 2010, they finally lost a court case to judge if the bricks themselves could be copyrighted. The original patent had long since expired - that being lodged in 1958! LEGO do still retain copyright and trademark over the LEGO minifigure, which is why you’ll see our brand guidelines are much stricter when relating to the minifigure.
It is also worth mentioning that there are also a number of legal rulings that define what a manufacturer can do to it’s products once sold. This is referred to as the ‘Right of first sale‘ and similar laws exist in the USA, EU and elsewhere. These cases have already proven that The LEGO Group cannot control what people do with their bricks, assuming that they do not try to mislead people into thinking The LEGO Company itself is directly involved. This is exactly why we’ve developed our own brands such as ‘Brick City’. These focus on the bricks - not the individual manufacturer.
What about ‘LEGO Certified Professionals?’
LEGO Certified Professionals (or LCPs) are a small group of companies that are outside the LEGO group, but are allowed to use (some) of the LEGO branding. They are also allowed to create glued models that can be sold back into the LEGO company itself. In fact, local LEGO offices are usually most LCP’s biggest customer. In a way, the local LEGO office is outsourcing it’s custom model creation.
Whilst it’s true that LCPs can use a version of the LEGO logo, that doesn’t mean that any project they carry out ‘has LEGO’s blessing’. Generally it simply means that the company has a certified LCP on staff. There is no training program, qualification program or guarantee of quality (not to imply they are low quality, just that there’s no quality control process).
One of the really BIG downsides of the LCP program is that the work they undertake is restricted by LEGO. The LCP rules change frequently with no notice, but in the past they have excluded producing models for any paid entry exhibition lasting longer than one month. At some times, LCPs have been required to ask permission for every model that they build. In one case, LEGO have required an LCP to recall legally sold models from a customer retroactively!
So, you can see why we are not LCPs. Staying outside of this program means that we can guarantee delivery to our customers no matter what.
So, what can’t we do?
Simply put, anything outside of our branding guidelines. These will be given to you as part of your contract and are not negotiable. You can’t use the LEGO logo, you cannot use the LEGO minifigure and you must make it clear that the models we make are made of LEGO bricks, but not made by The LEGO Company. Our exhibitions use a strapline to emphasise this but really it’s pretty obvious anyway. Visitors know what experience to expect when they see a picture of a brick built model.
As long as you abide by this general principle, then there won’t be any problems at all. We’re here to help too, as obviously we’ve been sucessfully doing this for 12 years now. We know what is OK, what isn’t, and what is technically OK - but probably best avoided. Just in case.
Warren Elsmore Ltd has NEVER been asked to stop doing anything by The LEGO Group.
