Who Owns the NASCAR Trophy?

Kurt Busch, right? After all, he won the 2004 Nextel Cup and took home the trophy. But no, the more pressing issue is who owns the copyright in the trophy: NASCAR, the Franklin Mint (whom NASCAR asked to design the trophy), or the independent contractor that actually completed the design?

According to a federal district court, it is NASCAR. The contractor had claimed that since his work went into the drawing and that he had no written agreement granting the rights in his work to NASCAR, the stock-car racing association could not prevent him from asserting a copyright claim. The judge, disagreed, though, holding that (1) the contractor's agreement with the Franklin Mint constituted a written agreement and (2) that agreement extended to NASCAR because the contractor had knowledge of of the agreement between the Mint and NASCAR and that the Mint would assign the copyrights to NASCAR.

The case, in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, is NASCAR v. Scharle.

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