I know it wouldn't be worth it but thats not my point. Could they legally have say 50,000 Whalers jerseys made just to sell? Would the NHL be able to block such a thing? even if it didn't use the NHL logo?
2007-10-23 16:03:48 · 6 answers · asked by Trapezoid 6 in Sports ➔ Hockey
Peter Good, a Hartford area graphic designer, owns the image copyrights for both Pucky the Whale and the stylized WH logo. He's very much alive, and still does design work for the National Hockey League.
Oh, he lives in a Hartford suburb as well.
2007-10-24 04:10:24 · answer #1 · answered by cyrenaica 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
From what I heard... The rights of the Whalers name and logo belongs to the city of Hartford. The city retained its copyrights after the franchise relocated. With the intention that... If the city of Hartford was to ever get another team, they will be able to reuse the Whalers brand.
RE:
It is also the reason why there is no Hartford Whalers jersey in the CCM vintage line.
I've bought 2 brand new bagged and sealed CCM Whalers jerseys from ebay... 1 white and 1 blue, both says Plymouth Whalers on the tags and by appearance are identical to the Hartford ones. The last owner of the Hartford Whalers, Peter Karmanos also owns the Plymouth Whalers. So the jerseys were probably once plain and the seller (or another source) added the Whalers crest to them.
Also, about 70% of the Whalers items on ebay do not have the NHL tags or hologram.
2007-10-24 02:17:29 · answer #2 · answered by Virus Type V 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
I just called the city and asked this question
The answer is no...the city does not own anything related to the Hartford Whalers.
So I called the NHL and asked the question
The answer is also no........the League owns the name and the copyright, but not the images or logo. The images and logo are owned by a private individual in Boston whose father created the images. The league would not give out the person's name.
(The New England Whalers played in Boston before moving to Hartford)
The individual who owns them, has the right to create merchandise with them. He has an agreement with the city of Hartford and the NHL to license the use of the logos should Hartford get a team again.
All it takes is a simple phone call people.
2007-10-24 10:55:08 · answer #3 · answered by J S 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Correct, the City kept the rights. That is the reason why you can't find Whalers uniforms on any NHL licensed video games. So the city could have new merchandise made.
2007-10-24 08:56:16 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
Yes, the NHL and NHLPA would block it. The NHL owns the rights to the images, not the city. Normally the buyer buys the rights to the images, Karmanos chose not to do so intentionally. There was a write-up about it in the Hockey News at the time because it was questioned. But there is no NHL by-law that states that the new owner has to buy the trademarks, logos, etc. When they are not bought, they revert to the league.
To the poster above, the NHL pulls 1000 auctions a day off of various sites of non-licensed material, and have been successful in several lawsuits.
2007-10-23 23:13:17 · answer #5 · answered by Like I'm Telling You Who I A 7 · 3⤊ 2⤋
I'm not sure of the legal ramifications, but I am a Whaler's fan and I see new stuff on Ebay all the time. Plus there are one or two shops you can order stuff from that have shirts with the Whaler's logo on them. Ahhhh...the good ol' days.
2007-10-23 23:12:02 · answer #6 · answered by wife2denizmoi 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋