In a dispute concerning the famous Michael Jordan
"Jumpman" logo owned by Nike, Inc., the US Court of
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit agreed with the district court that
the Nike logo did not infringe any copyright in photographer
Jacobus Rentmeester's 1984 photograph of Michael Jordan after
Nike commissioned its own photo of Jordan, which was then used to
create the Jumpman logo. Jacobus Rentmeester v. Nike,
Inc., Case No.15-35509 (9th Cir., Feb. 27, 2018) (Watford, J)
(Owens, J, concurring in part, dissenting in part).
One of Nike's most recognizable trademarks, the Jumpman
logo, was created in 1987 when Nike commissioned a photograph of
then-Chicago Bulls player Michael Jordan to create the now-famous
solid color silhouette design of Jordan soaring in the air toward a
slam dunk. According to Rentmeester's complaint for copyright
infringement, both the Jumpman logo and the commissioned photograph
used to create the logo infringe Rentmeester's own 1984
photograph of
