Is it permitted to use the qBittorrent logo in a review?

[tijsco]

Hello qBittorrent team,

I review qBittorrent on my site gratissoftwaresite.nl (one of the biggest freeware sites in The Netherlands).

My question: Is it permitted to use the logo of qBittorrent in the review and software listings on my website?

best regards,
Matthijs

[gershu-ar]

While this was addressed to the qBittorrent team I can clarify this for you, it is in an open discussion forum after all =)
For your intended purpose (review + list software), from both a trademark and copyright perspective, the answer is yes, you can.

Short version:
Completely permitted under fair/nominative use exceptions. You do not need express permission or a formal license from the authors to do this. As a courtesy and standard practice, simply link back to the official site (https://www.qbittorrent.org/) and make sure the download links directly to the official, unbundled installer. You're all set.

Long version:
Under Article 14 of the EU Trademark Directive (& the Benelux Convention on Intellectual Property), third parties are permitted to use a trademark or brand logo descriptively to identify the goods or services being reviewed. As long as the review doesn't falsely imply official endorsement or mislead users into thinking your site is the official home of the software, it is legally protected.
+
Citaatrecht -> Using software icons and screenshots within an editorial review constitutes a legitimate visual quotation (beeldcitaat) under Article 15a of the Dutch Copyright Act (Auteurswet). Independent of statutory quotation rights, the project assets are also distributed openly under the GPL.

Cheers,

[tijsco]

Thanks!