A Copyright Battle Over the Phillie Phanatic Ends With a Split Decision
We saw a split decision on a lawsuit between the Philadelphia Phillies and the creators of the Phillie Phanatic, with the creators holding rights to the original design and the team allowed to field a derivative design.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn ruled that Bonnie Erickson and Wayde Harrison indeed held copyright to the original Phillie Phanatic design, but also ruled that the Phillies had made enough changes to the design in 2020 to warrant its definition as a derivative work and under the ownership of the baseball team. Erickson and Harrison had created the Phanatic in 1978, but then sought to renegotiate the licensing agreement and terminated a 1984 Phanatic copyright assignment to the Phillies. The pair then refiled copyright for the Phanatic and sought a new licensing deal with the Phillies.
The Phillies refused and then filed suit claiming the pair had an improper copyright on the Phanatic. Those claims were rejected by Netburn, leaving ownership of the original design with Erickson, a former designer for Jim Henson’s Muppets and a creator of the iconic Montreal Expos’ Youppi!, and Wayde. But that ownership may not be worth much, as she also held that the new derivative design unveiled in 2020 was sufficiently different to be considered a new work under copyright law.
