Guidelines for Use of Creative Assets and Third-party Content in External Materials

Guidelines for the use of creative assets and third-party content in external materials

Scope and purpose

These guidelines apply to the use of creative assets and third-party content in all external materials, including:

  • Pitch decks and other slide decks;
  • Presentations and talk tracks (including those delivered at conferences and marketing events);
  • Marketing collateral, including emails, blog posts, press releases, release posts, social media posts on GitLab accounts, and videos; and
  • Advertisements.

“Creative assets” means videos, GIFs, photographs, illustrations, diagrams, graphics, and other artwork.

“Third-party content” means any content, including trademarks, creative assets, and written content, created or owned by a third party. These guidelines do not apply to the use of trademarks in the GitLab product itself. Refer to the Use of Third-party Trademarks in GitLab instead.

Refer to the Materials Legal Review Process for information on the materials that require mandatory legal review and the materials that are excluded from legal review. For any questions regarding these guidelines, contact #legal.

Note about use of content obtained from the internet

Just because something is available for free on the internet (including on Google Images, Google Maps, YouTube, blogs, social media, and news websites) does not mean it can be freely used. The vast majority of internet content is subject to copyright and/or trademark rights, and GitLab’s use of that content could constitute infringement.

Trademarks - logos and wordmarks

“Logo” means a symbol used to identify a company, product, or service, like the GitLab Tanuki logo.

“Wordmark” means unstylized words or letters used to identify a company, product, or service, like GitLab.

Do

  • When using the logo or wordmark of a customer, partner, or other third party with which GitLab has a commercial relationship, for customers, refer to the Customer Advocacy at GitLab handbook page. Discuss with #customer-advoocacy-and-references if unsure. For use of a partner’s logo, discuss with #channel-marketing to confirm that rights and approvals are in place for your proposed use under the Partner Agreement. For use of an ISV technology partner’s logo, discuss with #global-ecosystem-programs-ops.

  • Use wordmarks referentially: refer to the wordmark owner, or the owner’s products and services associated with the mark, when the company, product or service in question cannot be easily identified without using the mark. For example, it’s much easier to refer to GitLab using the wordmark GitLab than to the company behind the DevOps platform delivered as a single application.

Don’t

  • Use a logo when referring to third-party companies, or their products or services. Trademark fair use applies to logos only in very exceptional circumstances; use the wordmark instead.
  • Remove, distort, alter, or otherwise modify a logo.
  • Use a logo or wordmark in any way that implies an untrue relationship or affiliation with, or sponsorship or endorsement by, the owner.
  • Use a logo or wordmark in any way that denigrates or discredits the owner or their products or services.
  • Use a well-known wordmark in a general manner. For example, use photo rather than Polaroid unless refering to an actual Polaroid.

Creative assets

Creative assets must be sourced following the Brand team’s Sourcing creative assets guidelines, starting with existing Brand-approved assets and only progressing to the next option after confirming the previous option cannot provide suitable assets.

AI-generated images

AI-generated images should be used only when existing Brand-approved assets, stock photography, and net new designs are not viable options. Refer to the Brand team’s Sourcing creative assets guidance first.

General Requirements for AI-generated images:

  • All AI-generated images must be reviewed and approved by Brand before use. Contact the Brand team to request approval.
  • Follow Brand’s photography guidelines and the General Purpose AI Tool Usage Requirements.
  • Use only the following tools for generating images:
    • Google Gemini
    • Canva
  • Don’t use images as prompts. Use written prompts instead.
  • Don’t generate images of known figures, brand names, or logos.
  • Don’t generate images that include copyrighted materials, e.g., characters from films, recognizable buildings, a recognizable artist’s style.
  • Don’t remove watermarks or other indicators applied by the tool you’re using.
  • Don’t misrepresent the provenance of an image, i.e., claim that it was made by a human.
  • Apply the following statement beneath all AI-generated images: AI-generated image.

Written content including books, papers, blog posts, and news articles

Do

  • Use excerpts from written content for the purpose of criticism or comment.
  • Use as short an excerpt of the original content as possible for your given purpose. Fair use is more likely to be established when a small portion of the original content is copied.
  • Provide attribution, ensuring that you follow any attribution guidelines which apply to the content you’re using.

Don’t

  • Use the entirety, or a large portion, of an article, paper or blog post.
  • Use excerpts, quotes or headlines of print and online news articles without following Corporate Communications’ Sharing Media Coverage guidelines.

Industry Analyst Content Use

  • Any use of industry analyst content from firms such as Forrester Research, Gartner, and International Data Corporation (IDC) must be submitted for review and approval to Analyst Relations by filling out this issue template.

If you aren’t sure if the author of the content you’re quoting is an industry analyst, or if you have any other questions, contact the #analyst-relations Slack channel.

Quotes

Do

  • If using an unsolicited quote from a company or person not affiliated with GitLab, use the quote verbatim.
  • If desired when using an unsolicited quote, hyperlink the quote’s source.
  • If using a quote that references a GitLab customer or partner by name, confirm with #customer-advocacy-and-references (for customers) or #channel-marketing (for partners) that sufficient rights and approvals are in place for the proposed use.

Don’t

  • Reference the company or person by name if using a non-solicited quote.
  • Change the sense of the quoted material, whether by quoting out of context, altering the quote itself, or inaccurately paraphrasing.

Audio content including music, sounds, and sound effects

Do

  • Obtain audio content from permissively-licensed sources which allow commercial use of the content without payment of royalties or obtaining a separate license, or use content created by GitLab. If you’re unsure, reach out to #legal to review the license covering the content you want to use.

Don’t

  • Assume that a re-recording or cover of a popular song can be used. The recording, melody, and lyrics of a song are each distinct works protected by independent copyrights; a midi rendition composed by a GitLab team member on GarageBand of The Eagles’ Hotel California would likely infringe the copyright in the melody of the original song.
Last modified February 9, 2026: Remove trailing spaces (d8a6afc1)
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