JFLNYC wrote:The’ve been able to do it for decades because they had a license from the Phantic’s creators. Now that license has purportedly been terminated pursuant to the provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976 which specifically allows for the termination of such licenses after 35 years. The termination provision replaced the 1909 Act’s mechanism of an initial copyright period of 28 years which could be renewed for another 28, thereby giving creators a second bite at the apple.
The termination provisions were a bedrock part of the new law which sought to protect creators from just such licenses as this, i.e., licenses entered into before the true value of a creator’s work could be established. The law makes clear that this termination right is inalienable in that it cannot be bargained away at the time of the license no matter what a signed agreement might say.
Were the Phillies just incompetent, or trying to do the creators a solid? I mean this Phanatic thing is going to wind up costing them the Phanatic or likely tens of millions of dollars. In another thread before this all started, I speculated about what the Phanatic's actual value, in monetary terms, was to the Phillies as a brand identifier. Hard to quantify, but definitely significant.
Meanwhile the lady who designed the Nike swoosh got $50 and a firm handshake and never another penny since, because she sold the work to Nike outright. And the photographer guy who clearly provided the base inspiration for the Air Jordan logo lost in court.
