“In 1984, Co Rentmeester photographed Michael Jordan leaping midair toward the basket with a ball in his left hand. His legs are nearly in a split as he flies toward the net. It’s a familiar image for most of us — not because we’ve seen Rentmeester’s original photograph but because Nike used a similar silhouette of the athlete as the logo for Air Jordan products. The silhouette in the logo is not from Rentmeester’s image but from a separate, later photo that Nike created where Jordan is again leaping toward the basket. His legs are outstretched but perfectly straight and at more of an angle, and his right arm points down sharply. Behind him is the Chicago skyline at dusk. Rentmeester sued Nike in 2015.
[…] Nike prevailed over Rentmeester in the case, with a court finding that the images weren’t substantially similar — the photographer didn’t own Jordan’s pose, and only creative choices like the angle of the photographs and camera shutter speed could be protected”