Nike’s famous Jumpman Logo is now the basis for a lawsuit being filed by a photographer from New York.
In the early 1990’s life was wonderful for the NBA and Nike. Michael Jordan was Nike’s most accomplished prize and he was taking the sport to new heights.
The air around both parties was so free and delightful.
Everything was so perfect and innocent.
Over 20 years later, the recent news surrounding Nike isn’t so delightful.
According to Oregon Live, photographer Jacobus Rentmeester of New York is suing the mega company over rights to their famous Jumpman Logo.
Rentmeester is accusing the Oregon-based company of violating the copyright of his 1984 photograph of Michael Jordan:
Nike sued for "stealing" Jordan logo by photographer. -> http://t.co/ruvnUq9wAP pic.twitter.com/bs4FZSfdlU
— Nice Kicks (@nicekicks) January 24, 2015
Here is a side by side comparison:
Photographer suing Nike said his picture (left) was changed slightly (right) to become the Jumpman logo pic.twitter.com/FDcfNCUqjR
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 24, 2015
The monetary damages Rentmeester is after is unspecified. God only knows how much it is considering the 20 plus years the logo has been in existence and the countless items it’s appeared on.
The logo has become one in the same with Jordan himself and the Jordan brand.
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Details of the lawsuit claim that Nike paid Rentmeester $150 in August of 1984 for temporary use of two 35mm transparencies of Jordan he shot for Life magazine. They were later returned.
The photos were initially shot in accordance with a piece for the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Via Oregon Live:
"But by February 1985, the lawsuit says, Nike shot a photograph of a soaring Jordan in a scene that recreated key elements of the image Rentmeester took of Jordan when the future NBA Hall of Famer was still a student at the University of North Carolina."
On Friday morning a Nike spokesman declined to comment regarding the matter. Rentmeester claims that he attempted to contact Nike once he learned they started to use the image, but that Nike failed to respond.
He only took legal action because they failed to respond, according to his claims.
What we have here is a photographer who is suing one of the more recognizable companies 30 years after the fact.
Rentmeester also claims in the lawsuit that Nike paid him $15,000 for the image in 1985 for a limited license to use the image of a jumping Jordan for two years.
Apparel nuts will be following this case very closely in the coming months.
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