Are the SMPTE Color Bars and Philips PM5544 royalty free?

[horace528]

I'm asking this, because I need to use like a 'Technical Difficulties' part, and both the SMPTE Color Bars and Philips PM5544 are perfect. But there could be copyright problems because I'm submitting this to a contest, and 100% needs to be original, unless I get permission from the maker.

So my question: Are the SMPTE Color Bars and Philips PM5544 royalty free? Can I use them freely in any way I want?

 

[12dylan34]

I'd like to know as well. To be safe, though, I'd just make my own pattern in Photoshop. Shouldn't take more than an hour for something similar to the Phillips.

 

[SMPTE.org]

The SMPTE color bars are copyright protected. Use is restricted under license. Creating "your own pattern" based on the color bars, also requires license as it is a derivative-work.

To learn more, contact SMPTE: http://www.smpte.org/about/staff

Standards documents pertaining to the color bar test patterns, may be found here: http://standards.smpte.org/search?fulltext=color+bars&smptes-status=in-force&submit=yes&content-group=smptes&x=0&y=0