No, this is not an onion article. This is an actual lawsuit in an actual courtroom.
The Yankees should sign him if it becomes a “free agent”
Here is the complaint, complete with pictures and sketches
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6237438-Phanatic.html
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/philadelphia-phillies-sue-keep-mascot-becoming-a-free-agent-1228956The Philadelphia Phillies are doing more than just competing for a place in this year's baseball playoffs. On Friday, the club filed suit in New York federal court over an attempt to grab ownership to the "Phanatic," the team's mascot.
According to the complaint, Bill Giles, Phillies' executive vp, created the vision for the mascot in the 1970s — a green, fat, furry, big-nosed character accessible to children. The team says it worked with a company called Harrison/Erickson to develop the costume for the Phanatic. The firm was paid $215,000, according to the complaint. Dave Raymond, an intern in the Phillies' marketing department, is said to have donned a costume and brought the Phanatic to life at an April 25, 1978 home game.
Now 40 years later, after the Phanatic has become incredibly popular, the team says it has received a notice of termination from lawyers for H/E, which was founded by Bonnie Erickson, a designer who once created Miss Piggy and other muppets working with The Jim Henson Company. (She also has apparently done work creating other mascotsincluding those for the Montreal Expos, the Washington Wizards, and Jacksonville Jaguars.)
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-baseball-phillie-phanatic-idUSKCN1US2I1In a federal complaint filed on Friday in Manhattan, the Phillies accused Harrison/Erickson Inc and its principals, Wayde Harrison and Bonnie Erickson, of reneging on a 1984 agreement to let the Phillies use the Phanatic “forever.”
The Phanatic made its debut in April 1978, and the team said it has spent millions of dollars to promote him as he became “wildly popular” and “beloved,” while obtaining several trademarks.
But the Phillies said the defendants, who are from Brooklyn, have threatened to end its use next June, making the Phanatic a “free agent,” and sue for copyright infringement unless the team renegotiated the 1984 agreement and paid millions of dollars. The Phillies said the original payout was $215,000.
Harrison/Erickson “does not have the right to deprive the Phillies’ fans of the Phanatic” or liquidate the team’s “huge, 41-year investment” in him, the complaint said.
The Yankees should sign him if it becomes a “free agent”
Here is the complaint, complete with pictures and sketches
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6237438-Phanatic.html
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