Since 1987, the South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conference & Festivals has provided premiere conference, festival, and programming related goods and services that have achieved international recognition for their excellence. Simultaneously, the SXSW Marks have attained status as famous trademarks.

For the purposes of these guidelines, the “SXSW Marks” include both:

• word marks that contain only text (SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST or SXSW)(collectively, the “SXSW Word Mark(s)”)
• the SXSW logo which may only be used with the applicable year as depicted below (the “SXSW Logo”):

• Variation Marks

SXSW maintains federal, state, and/or common law trademark protection in and to the SXSW Marks in both the United States and many international jurisdictions.

LIST OF SXSW MARKS

Below is a non-exhaustive list of the SXSW Marks. The absence of a trademark, name, logo, slogan, image, or other designation from this list does not constitute a waiver of SXSW’s intellectual property and/or trademark rights in such trademark, name, logo, slogan, image, or other designation. Do not use these SXSW Marks without appropriate permission from SXSW.

South by Southwest®
SXSW®
South By®
SX®
SXSW EDU®
Grulke Prize®
PanelPicker®
Southbites®
Startup Village®
SXSW Accelerator®
North by Northwest®
NXNW®
South by Southeast®
SXSE®

(1) UNAPPROVED EVENTS

SXSW is not the only event taking place in Austin, Texas during the month of March. To eliminate confusion, it's critical that only SXSW approved events use the SXSW Marks. Accordingly, using the SXSW Marks, or any confusingly similar variations thereof, in association with the promotion or operation of an event not approved or sanctioned by SXSW is strictly prohibited. We suggest you use the moniker “ATX Spring Festival” or "Spring Fest ATX" if your event is not approved or sanctioned by SXSW.

Examples of unapproved events:

• Pay to play events (requiring artists to pay to perform)
• Events that do not coordinate with SXSW for safety, production, planning, and/or any other purposes

(2) DISPARAGING USES OR VIOLATING LAWS

Use of the SXSW Marks in a disparaging manner or in a way that violates any law or regulation is strictly prohibited.

(3) VARIATION MARKS

Use of terms that are variations of or derived from the SXSW Marks (e.g., Soul By Soul West, SXSA, the South By Party, South by [Name]) are strictly prohibited.

(4) WRONGFUL ASSERTIONS OF OWNERSHIP

Any display of the SXSW Marks that suggests or implies that you own or control the SXSW Marks is strictly prohibited.

(5) UNAUTHORIZED USE OF THE SXSW MARKS

Any use not explicitly authorized by SXSW is prohibited.

Below are ways you may wish to use the SXSW Marks, which all require a license. You may request a license here. If you are already working with SXSW, please contact your SXSW representative directly to expedite this process. SXSW reserves the right to approve or deny any license request.

(1) EDITORIAL CONTENT THAT SUGGESTS SXSW APPROVAL

While we do want you to write about SXSW, if your content suggests that SXSW has approved or endorsed your content or the source of your content, you need to request a trademark license from SXSW prior to distributing the content.

Doesn’t require a license:

• Title of article, “A Review of the Performances at SXSW”

Requires a license:

• Title of article, “SXSW’s List of Top Performances”

(2) COMMERCIAL USE

Any non-editorial use of the SXSW Marks in association with the promotion of the products or services of a person or entity other than SXSW (“Commercial Use”) without advance written approval from SXSW is strictly prohibited without a license.

Examples of unauthorized Commercial Use:

• Use of the SXSW Marks along with promotions of other products and/or services
• Use of the SXSW Marks on physical flyers, and/or signage promoting other products and/or services
• Use of the SXSW Marks in connection with content that requires a user to pay a subscription or fee to access the content

(3) MERCHANDISE

You may not use the SXSW Marks on any apparel, posters, toys, or other merchandise without a written license agreement from SXSW. If you would like to request permission to use the SXSW Marks on merchandise, please contact one of our marketing contacts.

(4) CONTESTS & GIVEAWAYS

You may not use the SXSW Marks in connection with any raffles, giveaways, auctions, contests, sweepstakes, competitions, or similar activities without written permission from SXSW.

Examples of unauthorized contests & giveaways:

• Calling for entrants to “enter to win two (2) badges and airfare to SXSW” through social media
• Including SXSW badges in a live auction

(5) SOCIAL MEDIA & THE INTERNET

Use of the SXSW Marks on your social media websites or elsewhere on the internet requires a license. The SXSW Marks shall not be used in any web URLs without SXSW’s prior written approval. Additionally, any Commercial Use of the SXSW Marks in a hashtag (#) requires a license.

Examples of SXSW Marks use on social media & on the Internet that requires a license:

• #[Name]SXSW
• http://www.[Name]SXSW.com

HOW DO I REQUEST A TRADEMARK LICENSE FROM SXSW?

To request a trademark license from SXSW, please fill out this form. If you are already working with SXSW, please contact your SXSW representative directly to expedite this process. SXSW reserves the right to approve or deny any license request in SXSW’s sole discretion.

Upon receipt of a trademark license from SXSW, carefully review the terms, and ensure that your planned uses of the SXSW Marks are within the scope of the authorized uses under the license. Please note, while we work to respond to all requests in a timely manner, requests received close to the SXSW Conference and Festivals may be delayed in processing.

HOW SHOULD THE LICENSED SXSW MARKS BE DISPLAYED?

(1) REQUEST APPROVAL

All proposed displays of the SXSW Marks must be submitted to SXSW for prior approval. Such approval may be obtained via email from a SXSW representative.

(2) INCLUDE TRADEMARK NOTICE

(a) SXSW requires consistent use of the SXSW Marks and the trademark symbol (™) or, if appropriate, the registration symbol (®) alongside the licensed SXSW Marks the first or most prominent time the SXSW Marks appear in the text of an approved advertisement, brochure, or other materials. Please refer to the non-exhaustive list of SXSW Marks to determine whether it is appropriate to use the trademark symbol or the registration symbol in association with particular SXSW Marks.

(b) Except on social media where character limits exist, include an attribution of SXSW’s ownership of the SXSW Marks in the credit section of your approved document, posting, etc., as follows:

“[INSERT LICENSED SXSW MARKS] is a trademark of SXSW, LLC, used under license.”

(3) COMPLY WITH THE LOGO GUIDELINES

Upon licensing the SXSW Marks, remember to request a high-resolution version of the art comprising the SXSW Logo and the corresponding guidelines (“Logo Guidelines”). Any licensee that is issued a trademark license for a SXSW Logo will be required to follow the Logo Guidelines.

(4) NO MODIFICATION OF THE SXSW MARKS

The SXSW Marks must be displayed exactly as written (in the case of a SXSW Word Mark) or depicted (in the case of a SXSW Logo). Any desired modifications or alterations of any SXSW Marks, including, without limitation, combining any part of one of the SXSW Marks with any name, trademarks, or other terms, for hashtags, websites, advertisements, or any other uses, must be explicitly licensed by SXSW prior to any use, which approval may be withheld by SXSW in SXSW’s sole discretion. If SXSW chooses to grant you permission to use any such modified/variation mark, it will be owned by SXSW and may be used by you only pursuant to a written license agreement from SXSW.

Examples of unauthorized modifications/variations:

• #[Name]SXSW
• http://www.SouthBy[Name].com

(5) NO PARTNERSHIP

The SXSW Marks shall not be displayed in a manner that implies partnership, sponsorship, or endorsement of you or a third party by SXSW (or any products or services offered by yourself or a third party) without SXSW’s advance written approval.

Please contact [email protected] to confirm whether your proposed use requires a license. You may also refer to the SXSW Press Center for more information on our press policies and resources.

We encourage you to discuss SXSW in editorial content, and we enjoy hearing about your official participation and experiences at our SXSW events. Editorial content includes reviews, news reporting, and commentary that expresses opinions about SXSW or provides objective reporting about SXSW, and the SXSW events. Such editorial content is probably acceptable without a license, but be aware that editorial content that suggests SXSW approves of the content and commercial content requires a license, and SXSW reserves the right to request your removal of such content.

Editorial (no license required):

• Title of article, “[Publication's] Review of the Performances at SXSW”

License required:

• Title of article, “SXSW’s List of Top Performances”

If you wish to use the SXSW Logos in editorial content, please submit a SXSW trademark request, and provide as many details as possible so that we can understand the context for your request. Please also be sure to select “Press Outlet” on the first page.

Remember, use of Variation Marks (e.g., Soul By Soul West, SXSA, the South By Party, South by [Name]) is strictly prohibited.

If you don’t qualify for a trademark license we recommend the following to avoid infringing the SXSW Marks:

“ATX SPRING FESTIVAL”

“SPRING FEST ATX”

“SPRING FESTIVAL SEASON”

Correct

• “Attend my ATX Spring Festival Event”
• “Attend my Event at the ATX Spring Festival”

Incorrect

• “Attend my Unofficial SXSW Event”
• “Attend my Unofficial Event at SXSW”

...and wish to use the SXSW Marks to promote my participation in SXSW.

Please refer to any existing contracts you have with SXSW for detailed information on permitted uses of the SXSW Marks.

• You are permitted (and encouraged) to use the SXSW Marks as detailed below on social media, on physical flyers and on digital flyers / promotional images to promote your participation in SXSW.
• You are permitted to use the SXSW Marks in hashtags as follows: (i) #ParticipantSXSW; (ii) #SXSWParticipant; (iii) #Participant_SXSW; and/or (iv) #SXSW. Any other use of the SXSW Marks in hashtags requires SXSW’s prior approval.
• All Participants receive a packet of SXSW Logos that you may use with SXSW’s prior approval. To attain approval, or if you are not able to locate these assets, please contact your SXSW representative. You may also send an inquiry to [email protected].
• You may not use any SXSW Logos that are not included in the packet of SXSW Logos without SXSW’s prior approval. If you wish to request permission to use other SXSW Logos, please submit a SXSW trademark request, and provide as many details as possible so that we can understand the context for your request.
• You may use the SXSW Social Media Marketing Toolkit to promote your involvement in SXSW.

...and wish to use the SXSW Marks to promote the Participant's involvement in SXSW.

Please refer to any existing contracts you have with SXSW for detailed information on permitted uses of the SXSW Marks.

• You are permitted (and encouraged) to use the SXSW Marks as detailed below on social media, on physical flyers and on digital flyers / promotional images to promote their participation in SXSW.
• You are permitted to use the SXSW Marks in hashtags as follows: (i) #ParticipantSXSW; (ii) #SXSWParticipant; (iii) #Participant_SXSW; and/or (iv) #SXSW. Any other use of the SXSW Marks in hashtags requires SXSW’s prior approval.
• All Participants receive a packet of SXSW Logos that you may use with SXSW’s prior approval upon execution of their Participant agreement. To attain approval, or if you are not able to locate these assets, please contact your SXSW representative. You may also send an inquiry to [email protected].
• You may not use any SXSW Logos that are not included in the packet of SXSW Logos without SXSW’s prior approval. If you wish to request permission to use other SXSW Logos, please submit a SXSW trademark request, and provide as many details as possible so that we can understand the context for your request.
• You may use the SXSW Social Media Marketing Toolkit to promote your involvement in SXSW.

... and want to use the SXSW Marks to promote my participation in SXSW.

• Please refer to any existing contracts you have with SXSW for detailed information on permitted uses of the SXSW Marks.
• If you do not have a contract with SXSW or if you are unclear about what is / is not permitted under your contract, please contact your SXSW representative for clarification.
• You may use the SXSW Social Media Marketing Toolkit to promote your involvement in SXSW.