Nike’s Jumpman logo didn’t violate the copyright of an earlier photograph of Michael Jordan, a federal appeals court ruled.
According to the Associated Press, the logo was based on a photograph taken by an individual Nike hired. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the photograph was “obviously inspired” by a 1984 photo by Jacobus Rentmeester of a leaping Michael Jordan when he was playing for the University of North Carolina. But the court found significant differences in the photos, and Rentmeester’s copyright does not give full rights to the look.
“Just as Rentmeester made a series of creative choices in the selection and arrangement of the elements in his photograph, so too Nike’s photographer made his own distinct choices in that regard,” Judge Paul Watford, writing for the majority, wrote.
