Is recreating an existing logo as vector a copyright issue?

Question

A company I've been working for has lost the vector versions of their logo. They've asked if I could recreate them, copying the jpeg version they have exactly to provide vector files. The logo is basically just Rockwell Bold in a coloured square so it would be very simple to do.

If I obliged, would I be infringing copyright, as I didn't design the original? I'm unsure, as I would not be copying to make something new, but just to replace the files that went missing (i.e. were presumably copied over).

I guess the alternative is to suggest they contact their original designer first, and if they can't help, would that then be acceptable for me to do so?

Answer 1

They should attempt to contact the original designer first, although he/she may not have (or ever had!) a vector version.

If not, there should be no reason you couldn't be hired to re-create their logo as vector; I've done it many times for clients.

As @joojaa mentioned above, if someone other than the company owns the copyright to their logo, they have bigger problems. But even then, I don't know that there'd be an issue, as you are not trying to use the logo commercially anyway, nor are you trying to copy/reuse any part of it for a different logo.