Cubs Find Going Tough on Field, also in Copyright Fight
Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, Forthcoming
3 Pages Posted: 26 Oct 2018
Date Written: October 2, 2018
Abstract
In the past few years, the Cubs have had their fair share of success in defending the team’s copyrights and trademarks, including suing vendors outside Wrigley Field for trademark violations in 2016, protecting its “W” trademark from startup WalletHub in 2015 and removing the unofficial bar-fighting “Billy Cub” mascot from the Wrigleyville neighborhood in 2014. However, this time the similarities between the 2016 World Series ivy leaf commemorative and the 1984 souvenir may be too strikingly similar for the court to deny. The team was just recently named as a defendant in a case alleging that the marketing of a 2016 World Series ivy leaf commemorative constitutes copyright infringement and unjust enrichment. The plaintiff, Daniel Fox, a lifelong Cubs fan now living in Michigan, entered into a licensing agreement with the Cubs in 1984 when he was an advertising executive living in Chicago. Fox contracted with the Cubs to create a commemorative to mark the team’s near-run to its first World Series since 1945, the 1984 National League East Championship.
Keywords: Cubs, Chicago, copyright, baseball, World Series, marketing, commemorative, infringement
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