The Sydney Opera House Trust has sent an official warning letter to the Harbour City Bears demanding the removal of the Opera House symbol from their logo.

For over sixteen years, the logo has shown the Sydney Opera House with each sail a different colour of the rainbow flag and a paw above it.

Opera House general counsel Michelle Dixon wrote to the bear event organisers, explaining: “The use of our image and brand is an important asset of the Sydney Opera House Trust and brand association with us is reserved for our sponsors and approved licensees,” and asking them to change their logo.

But the President of the Harbour City Bears Jonny Bastin believes the organisation wouldn’t be able to cope financially if they were forced to rebrand their logo, website, advertising material and merchandise.

The letter calls for the redesigning of the Harbour City Bears logo to include other prominent Sydney iconography, such as the Harbour Bridge or the Sydney Tower, and offers examples of “acceptable and modified logos”.

But Bastin believes the logo doesn’t solely represent the Opera House and rejects the need for a redesign.

“The image also reflects the Harbour, which is in our organisation’s name; the gay community through the use of the colours of the rainbow flag and the bear community with the bear paw symbol,” he said.

Since news of Sydney Opera House’s letter reached its members, Harbour City Bears have received an overwhelming amount of support from within the bear community and beyond, many voicing concerns over the legality of trade marking buildings at all.

Under the Australian Copyright law of 1968, it is not illegal to use “a painting, drawing, engraving or photograph of a building.”

“We’re hoping to meet their legal team soon as we believe the HCB logo already meets their conditions set out in the letter. Our logo is our history and we’re keen to protect that,” Bastin said.

Will a legal battle ensue? We’ll keep you posted.