Phillie Phanatic Query Not One For Copyright Office, Court Says

Artists trying to reclaim rights to the Phillie Phanatic mascot costume failed to convince a New York federal court to ask the U.S. Copyright Office to weigh in on a registration dispute.

The Philadelphia Phillies say the registration filed by Phanatic creators Bonnie Erickson and Wayde Harrison is void because they falsely classified the Phanatic as a sculpture. But the court lacked a legal reason to ask because the creators claim the registration is accurate, a magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York said.

Under copyright law, courts ask the Copyright Office whether, ...