Phillies Can Keep Using Altered Phanatic Mascot, Judge Advises

The Philadelphia Phillies should be allowed to continue using a new version of the Phillie Phanatic mascot after its creators revoked rights to use the original copyright-protected costume, a magistrate judge in New York federal court recommended.

The new Phanatic represents a derivative work created by the Major League Baseball team while it had rights to the design, and thus is exempted from Harrison/Erickson Inc.'s exercise of its termination rights, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn said.

The creators, meanwhile, should prevail over the Phillies’ claims of fraud on the Copyright ...