Post by @haubles@hachyderm.io

Hey friends, it's me again

We have more news to share today, though I must admit, this news is a little less fun.

Recently, the @Mastodon team received a fair number of questions about our trade mark policy. We realised we could add some guidelines to help make the Policy more clear, so over the last few months, we did just that! I'll post a "plain English" version of the guidelines as a comment.

You can read more background about the changes we made, and see the guidelines themselves, in this blog post:
https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/08/sharing-guidelines-about-mastodons-trade-mark-policy/

And the trade mark policy page is updated too:
https://joinmastodon.org/trademark

#Mastodon #Fediverse #MastoAdmin #MastoDev #SocialWeb

Mastodon Blog

Sharing Guidelines about Mastodon’s Trade Mark Policy

Today, we’re sharing additional guidelines about our trade mark policy in order to give you more clarity about it, based on questions we received from you!

Trademark Policy of Mastodon

#mastoadmin #socialweb #mastodev #fediverse #mastodon

34 Replies

6 Boosts

Zark Muckerburg

@64bithero@mstdn.games last wk.

@haubles @Mastodon This whole process confuses me. Mastodon is marketed as a non centralized platform. What benefit does Mastodon GMBH get for blocking people from using the name in their domain or using their logo on the website ?

To me this would just further fragment cohesion and make the product even more confusing to outsiders.

What’s the goal here ? To make money ? Charging people for this kind of thing would only drive down volunteer instances.

hannah aubry

@haubles@hachyderm.io last wk.

@Mastodon oops, the meta image still has the US English version of "trademark" 🙈 to GitHub!

Ellie Kennard

@elliek@zeroes.ca last wk.

@haubles @Mastodon
You know the word Trademark is one word, right? I see it's here in the text as two which actually gives it a different meaning ... Just a thought. Perhaps there's a reason for this?

hannah aubry

@haubles@hachyderm.io last wk.

@elliek in British English it is written "trade mark" - Mastodon uses British English (when we are not writing in German) as part of our brand to reinforce that we were born and are made in Europe.

@Mastodon

Ellie Kennard

@elliek@zeroes.ca last wk.

@haubles @Mastodon
I stand corrected. 👍
But having said that, it is written the one way on the graphic and the other in the text.
I see it written only as a single word in Canada where we have colours and neighbours as do the British... 😉

1+ more replies

hannah aubry

@haubles@hachyderm.io last wk.

@elliek as Neil kindly taught me - that's thank you times 2, @neil!

Matthias Cramer

@cramer@rwx.ch last wk.

@haubles @Mastodon It is not clear to me. Do I have to change the mastodon logo which appears by default on the top right on all pages? If yes, is there an easy way to do this, I have not found anything in the admin section.

hannah aubry

@haubles@hachyderm.io last wk.

@cramer ah, good note! to answer your question here, no. It is not required to change the logo when it's baked into the software. and we'll add that to the list for clarifying with our next update.

@Mastodon

hannah aubry

@haubles@hachyderm.io last wk.

@Mastodon

Here are the "plain English" guidelines:

— Any servers that want to use the Mastodon name and logo in their branding (not domain!) should seek express written permission from Mastodon, which is granted on a case-by-case basis.
— The word Mastodon should never be used in the main part of a server’s domain (a subdomain is allowed).** We will not retroactively enforce this on **servers created before May 13, 2026.**
— Existing servers using the Mastodon name in their domain must include this disclaimer: “This [server/site] is not affiliated with or endorsed by Mastodon GmbH or Mastodon Inc.”
— Any fair use mentions or derivative usage of the Mastodon name (such as mstdn) should include the disclaimer.

G°

@marqueandrepris@mastodon.social 52 min. ago

@haubles @Mastodon is mstdn.social an official domain?

Melting Mona :frogsleepy: 🌺

@Sirs0ri@corteximplant.com last wk.

@haubles @Mastodon since y'all are still actively endorsing servers (see that post 40 minutes ago regarding earth.law), how does such an endorsement interact with the required "This [server/site] is not affiliated with or endorsed by Mastodon GmbH or Mastodon Inc." Statement?

This is getting confusing rather quickly

hannah aubry

@haubles@hachyderm.io last wk.

@Sirs0ri @Mastodon hey! That’s a good callout, thanks for raising it. We’ll look into it

Melting Mona :frogsleepy: 🌺

@Sirs0ri@corteximplant.com last wk.

@haubles @Mastodon I appreciate it!

(And just for the record, please keep promoting smaller instances, that diversity is what makes this place so good - it's the "independency statement" that might need a second thought!)

Sylvhem

@Sylvhem@eldritch.cafe last wk.

@haubles @Mastodon Does that mean you will finally be providing a way for instance admins to change the default logo from the admin panel, something that’s been asked since at least 2017?

stefan

@stefan@akko.lightnovel-dungeon.de last wk.

@Sylvhem @haubles @Mastodon They will have to make that change. Otherwise as far as I understood you need written consent to use it.

hannah aubry

@haubles@hachyderm.io last wk.

@stefan @Sylvhem @Mastodon

https://hachyderm.io/@haubles/117094520893724666

bazkie 👩🏼‍💻 bitplanes 🎵

@bazkie@beige.party last wk.

sounds to me like the power went to your head.

we, the community, should ask ourselves, whether we need to represented by some random company at all in the first place. (we don't.)

Cenobyte :abunhdowohop:

@cenobyte@mastodon.thirring.org last wk.

@haubles @Mastodon for clarification, would mastodon.thirring.org need a disclaimer? Where would the disclaimer be put? Also if it's a grandfathered server (set up almost 4 years ago) does it still need a disclaimer?

hannah aubry

@haubles@hachyderm.io last wk.

@cenobyte @Mastodon Hey! Thanks for asking. Since Mastodon is in the subdomain that is a permitted use, but we do ask that you include a disclaimer somewhere where people can find it. The Server about page is a good option

Cenobyte :abunhdowohop:

@cenobyte@mastodon.thirring.org last wk.

@Satori

Deborah Pickett

@futzle@old.mermaid.town last wk.

@haubles Nice and clear. Can I suggest some examples that employ ccTLD domains? “mastodon.net.au” would be permitted according to the listed rules but probably should not be.

$diffractcolours$

diffractcolours

@diffrentcolours@tech.lgbt last wk.

@futzle @haubles Not sure that it is.

.> The word Mastodon should never be used in the main part of a server’s domain (a subdomain is allowed)

The domain, i.e. the thing you can register, is mastodon.net.au. The fact that it's a third level domain name doesn't automatically mean that it's a subdomain.

Deborah Pickett

@futzle@old.mermaid.town last wk.

@diffrentcolours @haubles And elsewhere in the document:

> This use is permitted, as long as it is not part of the top or second-level domain name.

My point is that there’s ambiguity of language, allowing cherry-picking of interpretations. Even just one example showing a ccTLD would make it very clear what the spirit of the rule is.

1 more reply

Erik Uden 🚩

@ErikUden@mastodon.de last wk.

@haubles @Mastodon thanks for the note! Will add the disclaimer on our server.

stefan

@stefan@akko.lightnovel-dungeon.de last wk.

@ErikUden @haubles don't forget to rip out the mastodon logos from the software though or get consent to use them.

hannah aubry

@haubles@hachyderm.io last wk.

@stefan @ErikUden it’s not necessary to seek permission for the logos and branding baked into the software

Joselito

@joseli@mastodon.social last wk.

@haubles @Mastodon "Any fair use mentions or derivative usage of the Mastodon name (such as mstdn) should include the disclaimer."
So, do I need to include it if my domain is masto.xxx?

hannah aubry

@haubles@hachyderm.io last wk.

@joseli yes, that would require the disclaimer

@Mastodon

Paul J Wege

@makeratschool@kanoa.de last wk.

@haubles
So you're going to tell, that you have a trademark for all derivatives of 'mastodon'?
@joseli @Mastodon

1+ more replies

Joselito

@joseli@mastodon.social last wk.

@haubles @Mastodon 👌

@mx@typo.social last wk.

@haubles Finally, no more (new) instances lazily named after the software they run...
@liaizon remember our conversation about pixelfed instances? I wish this policy was applicable in that case too 😂

uoʇɹǝʌıɥƆ ɯo⊥

@falken@social.falkensweb.com last wk.

@haubles @Mastodon are you gonna add this "not endorsed" to the default footer in open source releases, so nobody has to worry about this?

hannah aubry

@haubles@hachyderm.io last wk.

@falken

good idea! noting this down to bring up with the team :)

@Mastodon

hannah aubry

@haubles@hachyderm.io last wk.

@Mastodon

Finally, a special shout out and thank you to @neil - as well as the other friend who wished to remain anonymous - for their assistance with shaping these guidelines!

#Mastodon #Fediverse #SocialWeb