The Yale and Yale Law School name and marks associated with the University are protected by trademark law and governed by Yale Trademark Licensing. Any use by students of the Yale name or trademarks in the title or caption of a publication or an organization or the like, on any promotional materials, or on any item or product to be manufactured, distributed, or sold by an individual or an organization, must be approved by the secretary of the University or the secretary’s duly authorized agents, and under such restrictions and explanations as they may impose or require. Guidelines and requirements are available from the office of Yale Trademark Licensing.

No student organization may reproduce a stylized version of the Yale name and/or use any University marks in its literature, on a website, on its stationery, or in other media without prior written approval. The full name of the organization, including any subtitle, must be included on all materials, including but not limited to agreements, stationery, posters, websites, business cards, and merchandise whenever the organization includes the Yale name to identify itself. Please note: It is a University-wide initiative to have student groups clearly identified, so adding “a student organization” is a recommendation for groups established before 2017 and required for groups established in 2017 or after.

A student organization cannot use the Yale Law School shield on its website, print materials, or items such as clothing or gifts.

Anyone interested in using the Yale name or trademarks for any purpose must contact the Law School's Office of Public Affairs (publicaffairs.law@yale.edu). The design of items using the Yale Law School name in any way must also be approved by Public Affairs and Yale University's Licensing department by submitting the Logo Design Review form (if proposing a new logo design) and the Merchandise Request form before production. Please allow two to three weeks for design review. See below for details.

Student groups must be approved through the formal OSA process before using the official student organization names on any materials, including swag, giveaways, or print and digital promotional materials for events and other activities.

If a student or student group issues a report, it must indicate that it was a student-led initiative.

Students must submit proposed merchandise or swag designs through the Merchandise Request form for review by Yale Licensing and the Office of Public Affairs (OPA). Please allow two to three weeks for design review.

Merchandise or swag purchases can only be paid for out of discretionary funds; Yale Law School general allocations cannot be used for this purpose. Merchandise or swag spending is limited to a maximum of $100 per person per fiscal year and only Yale-approved vendors may be used.

Filming or photography on Yale Law School premises by the news media or other organizations/commercial entities is not permitted without prior permission from the Yale Law School Office of Public Affairs. No press may enter Law School buildings without prior permission from the Office of Public Affairs, including Yale Daily News.

Speakers may not bring their own photographers and videographers to cover their appearance at Yale Law School. Any film crews or photographers on the YLS campus who did not get clearance from OPA ahead of time will be asked to leave.

If the event is approved to be open to the public or press, organizers must set up a registration and check-in process and provide a student or staff organizer to help with the process. A list of speakers and attendees from outside the Yale community, alphabetized by last name, must be provided to YLSevents@yale.edu a minimum of 24 hours prior to the event.

Any questions about press, photography, and videography can be directed to publicaffairs.law@yale.edu.

If you are interested in hiring a photographer for an event, reach out to OPA (publicaffairs.law@yale.edu) for a list of approved photographers. YLS cannot pay students to serve as speakers, photographers, performers, musicians, DJs, or bartenders at student group meetings or events. If you are planning to hire a photographer who is not on the freelance photographer list through OPA, please receive approval from OPA first and then complete the Contract Review form with the Services Agreement for Freelance Photographers. To inquire about reserving communal space such as the Courtyard for photographs, contact YLSevents@yale.edu. Once the photographer is approved, student organizers must email OPA and Building Services a few days prior to the photographer’s arrival. The student organizer must meet the photographer at the Security Desk and remain with them during the event.

Be sure to review the University Recording Policy. Please note that for University events open to Yale community members or to the public, such as lectures or performances, the event sponsor should inform attendees before the event if the event is being recorded. Event sponsors also are responsible for informing attendees whether individual recording by attendees is prohibited. Yale community members may not make surreptitious recordings of participants in classes, University-related meetings, or University events. Recording devices may be used only in an overt and conspicuous manner so that it is readily apparent to all participants that a recording is being made.

An event cannot be publicized in any manner until the event organizer receives written confirmation that a room reservation is confirmed. In any publicity for an event (including, but not limited to: emails, newsletters, posters, and calendar listings), you are required to list the audience: YLS community only, Yale community, or public. You are required to secure proper approvals for those open to a broader audience. For events open to the broader Yale community and the public, include your RSVP link. See poster policy for more information.

Events by student groups and organizations are recorded or livestreamed only in rare situations and require approvals, fees, and forms to be completed in advance. Requests to livestream or record an event begin with the AV department. Livestream requests must also be approved by Public Affairs in advance. Speakers must sign a release form before a livestream can be set up or a recording can be made. Video editing and transcription fees apply. Release forms should be sent to publicaffairs.law@yale.edu.

Events should be published to the YLS Events Calendar, either directly or through Yale Connect. This listing feeds into the Yale Law School website homepage. Every Monday at 9:00am, a full digest of the week’s events is circulated via email. Daily reminders are sent Tuesday-Friday. Adding events to the calendar ensures they are featured on the large flatscreen monitor near the Table in SLB. This is the best way to promote events to the entire community.

To have Yale Connect events loaded into the YLS Events Calendar, you must "tag" your event as "YLS Website." If you make updates to your event in Yale Connect, please email publicaffairs.law@yale.edu to have it updated on the YLS website calendar. It will not update automatically.

There are designated spaces in the building to post information about events and job opportunities. Please familiarize yourself with the Yale Law School poster policy and rules for the physical Wall. Posters that do not follow the guidelines will be removed.

Violation of these regulations may result in an organization’s loss of official recognition and consequent loss of funding opportunities. Violations may also subject individuals to discipline under other University or School regulations. Students or organizations may also be charged for the costs of removing improperly posted materials and repairing any damaged property. Authorized staff typically remove all posters from bulletin boards and other designated spaces according to the above timelines. Staff also may remove posters that do not comply with this policy; no one else (other than the person who posted the poster) may remove, deface, obscure, or destroy existing posters.

Student group email accounts should be the primary tool of communication. OSA will set up any new student group email accounts over the summer. Email accounts can be associated with multiple individuals and do not have to have a separate login and password. OSA will gather student emails (up to 5 individuals) for access to each student group email account when registration for the upcoming academic year is confirmed in the summer. If student access needs to be updated, the student group's leadership should email osa@yale.edu to request changes.

Once student group members are assigned access to the email account, students can follow these steps to access the account:

1) Login to your personal yale.edu e-mail account through Outlook on your web browser.
2) Click on your initials on the top right corner of your screen.
3) Click "Open another mailbox..."
4) Enter the e-mail address for your organization. This should populate the email account in another tab on your screen.

The Law School does not administer any student body email listservs or peer-to-peer communications platforms. Any student-run communications platforms are the responsibility of the student organizers.