I've never seen or heard this story before. I really don't understand how the designer didn't get paid...
That's not the point........ The point is a Billion $ business ripping off a "starving artist" They clearly STOLE his idea. It's Total bullshit. You'd think those greedy fuks would at least throw him some $ just to avoid bad publicity.
Well, its not like the guy didn't get his day in court to prove his damages, which he failed to do, miserably. For all we know they offered him a modest amount to avoid the publicity and he was the greedy fuk who wanted more. Known to happen on occasion.
Bouchat v. Balt. Ravens Football Club, 346 F.3d 514, 519 (4th Cir. 2003), cert. denied 541 U.S. 1042 (2004) ("The damages trial was conducted over a period of six days, from July 17 to 24, 2002. On July 23, 2002, at the close of the evidence, the jury was asked to decide whether the Defendants had proven, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the Non-Excluded Merchandise Revenues were attributable entirely to factors other than the Defendants' infringement of Bouchat's copyright. If the jury found that they were not, then it was charged to decide the percentage of the Non-Excluded Merchandise Revenues attributable to factors other than the infringement. After a full day of deliberations, the jury answered the first question in the affirmative, thereby denying Bouchat any monetary recovery.") and there you have it. at the end of the day, the jury decided that Raven fans were likely going to purchase Ravens merchandise regardless of the logo, and their purchasing decisions were not attributable to his copyrighted work, thus he did not suffer monetary damages from its use and was not owed monetary compensation. by sending the design unsolicited it could also be argued that he was giving them the design for use (what other reason was he sending the design for?), and they accepted his offer. that is why, boys and girls, you don't send creative works unsolicited without explicit demands along with them that dictate if they use it they owe you compensation.
very true but that doesnt make hte nfl any less of douchebags. just pay the man, it was a stupid looking logo anyway.
He did have an explicit demand, he asked for a letter of recognition and a signed helmet when he first sent the design. It doesn't appear he ever got the helmet. Not sure if that entitles him to millions now. http://www.ober.com/publications/726-ravens-win-legg-mason-loses-copyright-awards-shock-awe
