The Phillies and Our Beloved Phanatic Win in Court!

While the Phillies lost to the Reds yesterday, the organization and all Phillies fans won what is arguably a more important legal battle last week. The two-year long copyright dispute between the Phillies and the New York-based company who had originally created the best mascot in the World, the “Phillie Phanatic”, resulted in a 91-page report issued last Tuesday.

The changes made by the Phillies to the original design of the Phillie Phanatic were enough to protect it under the Copyright Act’s Derivative Works Exception.

According to US Magistrate Netburn, the changes made by the Phillies to the original design of the “Phillie Phanatic” were enough to protect it under the Copyright Act’s Derivative Works Exception, which permits a copyright holder to continue using “amended versions” even when the original rights no longer exist. Accordingly, the New York-based creators of the original Phillie Phanatic could not successfully assert copyright protection because the Phillies sufficiently modified the Phillie Phanatic by adding the following to our beloved mascot: pink eyelashes, light brown eyebrows, round eyes, oval pupils, a cylindrical snout (with equal diameter), wing tips on his/her arms, and a blue-tipped “duck butt.” Accordingly, and while we fans of the Phillie Phanatic were initially dismayed by the Phillies decision to drastically modify our favorite mascot, the Phillies got this one right. We’re all accordingly now winners because the law protects our unfettered right to enjoy the best mascot there ever.