If you are interested in law in Baltimore outside of ‘The Wire’ and ‘Homicide,’ check out the saga of Frederick Bouchat, a security guard who has claim to designing the original Baltimore Ravens logo, but won’t stand to get paid off of it.
Bouchat has sued about 50 million companies and businesses along with the NFL and the Ravens, hoping to recoup on what he and his legal team view as copyright infringement. Problem is, dude drew the logo, faxed it to the Maryland Stadium Authority, and asked for nothing in return besides public acknowledgment and an autographed helmet.
Too bad his legal acumen didn’t kick in until after the logo became legit; Bouchat copyrighted his drawing well after the team adopted a modified, but closely related image. Thusly, dude gets no scrilla.
Here’s the actual opinion from yesterday’s decision from the 4th Circuit Court, if you are into that type of thing. I feel bad for dude, because he should get some recognition for helping to create a brand that is heavy in the city. Seems like Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti would be cool enough to give dude some season tickets or something, but considering the number of appeals Bouchat has made, he might be lucky if he’ll make it to the games as field security.
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