Nextcloud
trademark guidelines

With these guidelines, we wish to encourage widespread use of the Nextcloud trademarks by the Nextcloud community while managing that use to protect the distinctive value of the trademarks and avoid confusion on the part of Nextcloud users and the general public.

The Nextcloud marks

Nextcloud and the Nextcloud logo is a registered trademark of Nextcloud GmbH in Germany and/or other countries. These guidelines cover the following marks pertaining both to the product names and the logo: “Nextcloud” and the blue/white cloud logo with or without the word Nextcloud; the service “Nextcloud Enterprise”; and our products: “Nextcloud Files”; “Nextcloud Groupware” and “Nextcloud Talk”. This set of marks is collectively referred to as the “Nextcloud marks.”

Contributing to Nextcloud

We encourage everybody to contribute to Nextcloud and become part of the Nextcloud community. If your contributions require trademark usage which is not permitted by these guidelines, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Newsletter

Use cases for the Nextcloud marks

Running a Nextcloud Server installation

When can you use the Nextcloud marks to identify your Nextcloud installation and when not:

You can use Nextcloud for your self at home or within your organization. You can then internally refer to Nextcloud, or put it in your documentation.

You are not allowed to use the Nextcloud marks for advertisement, promotion, marketing or sales purposes for commercial Nextcloud services like support or hosting or development around Nextcloud without permission from Nextcloud GmbH.

Distributing Nextcloud server

You can use the Nextcloud marks to identify Nextcloud for Nextcloud Server downloads separately or as part of a Virtual Machine, docker image, installer, PHP server package or in another form as long as you have not made any modifications to Nextcloud Server itself.

Modifications to the Nextcloud Server here are defined as those which would would require you to provide them in source form to any user who asks under the license of the AGPLv3. Note that pre-configuration and enabling or pre-installing Nextcloud apps from our app store are not considered changes or modifications to Nextcloud. But no app or functionality which is part of Nextcloud Hub by default can be removed or disabled automatically, nor can ‘custom’ apps which are not in our app store be installed. If you do, the result is considered a modified version of Nextcloud which means you are not allowed to use our Marks.

As example. You can NOT disable the updater, the Files app, the Talk app (or prevent its installation by default), the support app, or install a custom theming app, or install a custom authentication app not on the app store and still use Nextcloud marks.
If you do any of those things, you must remove the Nextcloud name and marks from the application user interface completely and you can not use your marks in any advertising, documentation or communication about the product.
We want to ensure users do not confuse modified products from a third party with the official Nextcloud product.

We do not consider the distribution of Nextcloud as part of a Linux server distribution and noting this fact as advertisement of Nextcloud services. However you can not use the Nextcloud marks to advertise hosting of a Nextcloud VM or Docker image on your hosting service without permission.

In case of doubt, ask for clarification or permission.

Nextcloud clients

Mobile client

The Nextcloud mobile clients are available on the Apple (iOS) and Google (Android) app stores. If you wish to distribute the iOS or Android client modified or unmodified on these stores you can not use ANY Nextcloud mark other than what fair use allows and you must make sure that such stores are compatible with the respective Open Source license of such Nextcloud mobile app. This means you can NOT use the term « Nextcloud » in the name of your app. You MUST make clear that your app is NOT the official Nextcloud client and contains modifications from the original– if any. We reserve the right to demand you take down the Nextcloud client if you violate any of these provisions. For distributing the Nextcloud mobile clients on any other app store, please contact us.

Desktop client

The Nextcloud desktop client is available for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X. If you wish to distribute the desktop client modified or unmodified you can not use ANY Nextcloud mark other than what fair use allows. This means you can NOT use the term « Nextcloud » in the name of your client. You MUST make clear that your client is NOT the official Nextcloud client and contains modifications from the original. To obtain permission to distribute a modified or unmodified version of the Nextcloud desktop client with use of the Nextcloud marks, please contact us. Please do not link to our apps for use with a product that is seriously modified and thus not ‘Nextcloud’.

Linking to nextcloud.com

You are permitted to link to nextcloud.com from your website. We have provided several logo graphics for you to choose from. To use these logos you must agree that:

The logos will be used only on the Internet and only as a link to nextcloud.com, and not as a favicon (the little icon used in the location bar and tabs to identify a website)
You will not imply or state an endorsement by the Nextcloud Community or otherwise misrepresent your relationship with the Nextcloud Community
You will not disparage the Nextcloud Community while using the logos
Your use of the logos will not be deceptive or false in any regard

You will not create a browser or border environment around Nextcloud Community content
You may link to Nextcloud Community content or replicate content only after obtaining permission
Your website will not contain content that could be construed as distasteful, offensive, or controversial, and will contain only content that is appropriate for all age groups
This permission may be rescinded at any time, in which case you will have to remove the Nextcloud marks from your website within 24 hours.

Nextcloud merchandise

You are welcome to make use of the Nextcloud marks to produce merchandise such as t-shirts, hats, bags, jackets, sweatshirts, mugs, and desktop wallpapers and give them to your friends, family, community members, provided there is no commercial interest behind it.

You are required to request permission if you want to commercially distribute articles using the Nextcloud marks or distribute them for promotion of your own commercial services (see Contact Information below to request permission). We are generally happy if a local Nextcloud promoting group wants to create and sell Nextcloud t-shirts to fund a local meetup, for example, so please just ask us!

Domain names

If you want to include all or part of an Nextcloud mark in a domain name, you should seek our permission (see Contact Information below to request permission). People naturally associate domain names with organizations whose names sound similar. Almost any use of an Nextcloud mark in a domain name is likely to confuse someone, thus running afoul the overarching requirement that any use of an Nextcloud mark not be confusing.

By “domain name” we mean to refer to toplevel domains and second-level domains, but not sub-domains. You can call your private or business Nextcloud server nextcloud.mycloud.com as you wish! For commercial purposes (a service provider hosting Nextcloud), do NOT include the Nextcloud mark in your domain name, anywhere, unless you received permission to do so.

Advocacy groups

We welcome the use of the Nextcloud marks in connection with user groups and other Nextcloud advocacy groups, but you may only do so in accordance with the following requirements:

Your use is not commercial in nature. That is, you do not aim to promote services like hosting, development or support for Nextcloud

In using a Nextcloud mark, you are in fact referring to the thing that the Nextcloud mark represents

You do not incorporate other proprietary or commercial names in your group name

There is no suggestion (through words or appearance) that your group is approved by, sponsored by, or affiliated with the Nextcloud Community (or its related projects) unless it actually has been so approved, sponsored, or affiliated

You do not claim any trademark rights in the name, attempt to register the name with a trademark office or as a trade name, business name, or domain name, or conduct any business under the name.

Events

It is permissible to use the Nextcloud marks to promote free and open source software events where individuals in the Nextcloud Community appear as advocates, demonstrating Nextcloud, giving talks, or otherwise represent the project, provided:

You do not misrepresent your relationship with the Nextcloud Community

You do not disparage the Nextcloud Community using the Nextcloud marks

Your use of the Nextcloud marks is not deceptive or false in any regard.

Individuals can be Nextcloud contributors, members of the wider Nextcloud community, or Nextcloud users.

Publications

If you want to include all or part of an Nextcloud Mark in the name of a publication such as a book or magazine, you need our permission (see Contact Information below to request permission). But you can use the Nextcloud Mark in a title of review inside a magazine, for example, as long as you use the Marks to refer to the official Nextcloud community or products.

Apps, product and service names
and compatibility references

You should not include a Nextcloud mark in the name of your application, product or service, regardless of whether it is commercial or non-commercial in nature. This includes online services, such as e-commerce, community, blog, informational, promotional, and personal home page sites as well as Nextcloud apps, client apps or third party apps which interact with Nextcloud.

With that said, we consider it permissible to use an Nextcloud mark in a file, folder, directory, or path name. We also recognize that the Nextcloud Community needs some way to identify projects, products, and services that are compatible with Nextcloud. This is only allowed for non-commercial purposes.

Advertising
and marketing materials

You are not allowed to use the Nextcloud marks in describing or advertising any commercial services, including but not limited to training, development or support, without permission from Nextcloud GmbH.

Business names,
commentary and other

Business names

You can not include an Nextcloud Mark in the name of your company, business or product. It can not be used in (part of) a domain.

Commentary

We welcome comment and constructive criticism, and we try to have a good sense of humor.

It is fine to use the Nextcloud marks in your discussion, commentary, criticism, or parody, in ways that unequivocally do not imply endorsement.

Please do not create mock or parody products with names based on the Nextcloud marks.

Also, please be aware that, in our opinion, it is not “fair use” to use the Nextcloud marks in a manner that disparages Nextcloud technology or the Nextcloud Community.

All other uses

All other uses of the Nextcloud marks need to be reserved by us, but we are available to discuss terms for use.

Contact information

Please contact us if you need assistance regarding these guidelines, e.g. for discussing your case or requesting permission, by using our contact form.