Bouchat v. Baltimore Ravens Football Club, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
346 F.3d 514 (2003)
When the NFL announced the Cleveland Browns would relocate to Baltimore, Baltimore resident Frederick Bouchat (plaintiff) drew logo concepts for the new team and sent his "Ravens" logo to the Maryland Stadium Authority once that name was chosen. The Baltimore Ravens Football Club (the Ravens) (defendant) adopted a new "Flying B" logo that resembled Bouchat's design. Bouchat sued the Ravens and NFL Properties (NFLP) for copyright infringement; the jury found NFLP accidentally infringed and the Ravens didn't know about the infringement when adopting the logo. The Flying B appeared on the field, tickets, banners, and merchandise; retailers also paid NFLP a minimum licensing fee regardless of actual sales. The district court excluded categories like the minimum-licensing fees and ticket sales from the jury's damages calculation, and Bouchat appealed, arguing he was wrongly denied a statutory presumption that all defendants' revenue was attributable to the infringement.
Whether revenues allegedly generated by copyright infringement are included in calculating actual damages when there is no conceivable connection between the infringement and the revenue.