Phillies File Lawsuit to Keep Phanatic in Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Phillies have filed a lawsuit to prevent the Phanatic from hitting the open market as a free agent.

Seriously.

The firm which designed and created the green and furry mascot, Harrison and Erickson, were paid more than $400,000 over the course of two licensing agreement for coming up with the Phanatic, which debuted at a Phillies game in April 1978.

According to the team, the second licensing agreement they signed with the firm in 1984 gave the team the rights to the mascot forever, but Harrison and Erickson claims that isn’t the case is now threatening to “make the Phanatic a free agent if the Club does not renegotiate the 1984 Assignment and pay H/E millions of dollars.”

In their lawsuit against Harrison and Erickson, the Phillies are asking a judge to issue a declaratory judgment that H/E cannot sue the franchise for copyright infringement. The team also alleges Harrison and Erickson’s claims that it created the copyrighted character without outside help is false that the company is “ignor[ing] The Phillies’ role in designing the Phanatic’s costume.”

It’s somewhat of a funny story, but the ruling could actually have far-reaching implications across for the entertainment industry with regard to intellectual property rights.

“The working and contractual relationship between the Phillies and H/E in the creation of the Phanatic will matter and determine who is really the author,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. “If H/E can demonstrate that it really is an author of valid copyrighted material and assigned rights, a court could explore the aspect of the law that states that termination of a grant may be effectuated notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary. And the topic of using trademarks to counter copyright actions has been dealt with, including in the Supreme Court’s Dastaropinion.”

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