Topps and Leaf have settled their differences in a copyright case. Back in August, Topps filed copyright and trademark infringement claims against Leaf over an advertisement for its 2011 Leaf Best of Baseball product. Topps originally asked for damages, claiming Leaf didn’t have the rights to use pictures of old Topps cards that feature the company’s l
ogos nor the players it has under exclusive contract.
At issue was a sell sheet distributed by Leaf showing vintage Topps cards that were placed into current Leaf packs as prizes.
On January 12, the two sides told a federal judge they were requesting dismissal of the case, having apparently settled their differences without a trial. The next day, federal judge Deborah Batts signed the order and the case was closed. There is no word on what, if anything, was agreed on to end the legal fight.
After Topps’ filed its lawsuit, Leaf brought a counterclaim that called Topps’ actions “unlawful, unfair, wrongful, malicious and fraudulent in that they constitute misuse of federal and state trademark law”. The company said the scanned images it used in the sell sheet involved legally protected protected fair use. It also cited the thousands of eBay listings that utilize photos of Topps’ cards and logos as part of its case.
