Phillie Phanatic Legal Battle
from Blackletter
A company called Harrison/Erickson created the Phillie Phanatic way back in 1984. Harrison/Erickson sold the Phillie Phanatic to the Philadelphia Phillies for $215,000 back in 1984. However, they argue that under a section of the copyright act, they had the right to renegotiate those terms, and have since August of 2019 been in a lawsuit with the Phillies, or one new lawsuit or another since then. The Phillies of course said they have the rights to continue using the Phanatic, and it all came to a head this last spring in spring training, when the Phillies debuted a new version of the Phanatic, which they call a derivative work, which they say, the Phillies say, gives them the right to use the new version of the Phanatic Harrison/Erickson, the company that designed the original Phanatic, actually say that they don't and that it's not a derivative work, but that it's a knockoff, and that they're entitled to additional damages. The Phillies have responded to Harrison/Erickson's allegations or statements that that company has already been paid a million dollars for the Phanatic, And it's not like they're stealing it, they paid Harrison/Erickson in good faith.
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