I’ve always preferred Marlins and Savages to Winchesters, and Native Americans to cowboys.

I have an idea to engrave the Winchester logo on the off-side of my Marlin 1895, except with a Comanche on the horse, and the horse dragging the cowboy at full gallop, with the cowboy’s boot stuck and twisted in the stirrup.

On the off-side of my Savage 99, the cowboy would be prone on the prairie, with his hat askance on his head, with arrows sticking out of him, and with his horse grazing placidly at his feet.

Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee would be engraved in scroll beneath both images.

Question: Would I be infringing a copyright, or would these fall under the satire or fair use exceptions?

Also posted on the Lever Action Rifles forum.

The Horse and Rider design is a TRADEMARK belonging to the Olin Corporation, and is used with permission of Olin by Winchester. Not sure what the trademark legal issues might be if you decide to go ahead and use it. I would suggest that you just get a good artist to do an original design for you. I do know that the costs associated with using a good artist to assist you would certainly be dwarfed by the the costs of trademark litigation.

I wonder if one used the image but made minuscule changes so that it was not a direct copy if that would work or could one still be accused of plagiarism?... + If it's worth it.

I think that if I was putting a modification of one of the best known trademarks of one brand of rifle permanently on another brand of rifle, that I would stay as far away from that as possible, to be quite honest. Best to get a great spoofy design from someone else that does not copy the Olin Trademark, and use that. I see his point and the fun facts behind the Cowboys and Indians spoof, but I wouldn't.