AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan is confident a deal could be reached with Warner Bros movie studio to allow the league’s 19th team to be named the Tasmanian Devils should that be the name settled on by the new club.
McLachlan’s optimism came as a leading commercial lawyer said the AFL and Warner Bros should be able to find common ground and broker an agreement that would allow the club to be named after the native Tasmanian animal.
The AFL and Warner Bros could be headed for a legal fight over the trademark rights to the Tasmanian Devil, a famous cartoon character in the powerful movie company’s Looney Tunes series.
The Tasmanian Devils shapes as the likely name of the AFL’s expansion club, officially birthed on Wednesday in what McLachlan called a “historic day”. Tasmania’s under-18 team already uses the Devils name in the Coates Talent League, but does not profit from merchandise, unlike the commercially driven senior league.
The Tasmanian Devil is a famous Warner Bros. cartoon. However, the native animal of Tasmania could also be used as part of the name of the AFL’s 19th club.
McLachlan said a final decision on a team name would be made in part with the Tasmanian public but a deal with Warner Bros should be able to be done.
“The Devils seems to make sense to me and I know there has been debate around the legalities and copyright issues. That can broadly be worked through. I know there would be broadminded people at Warner Bros, that will be for others to decide,” McLachlan said.
“It will work through. There is leasing, renting, appropriation of trademark stuff all of the time. I don’t believe that is the big issue. Big companies work through that stuff all of the time.”
The AFL is likely to have the backing of the federal government. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she was shocked upon learning the national icon had a trademark, and the government would see “what we can do” to reclaim it.
“I have to say like most Australians I was pretty shocked to realise that Tassie devils was not a name that we had the rights over,” Wong said on 2GB radio station on Wednesday.
She ruled out contacting US President Joe Biden about the issue, saying he likely has no control over the Warner Bros business. But Wong said the Australian public deserved to be able to use the name.
Hear me roar: The AFL is keen for its 19th club to be named after the animal native to Tasmania.
“I think most Australians would think that Tasmanian devils was something that we could use. We’ll see what we can do,” she said.
Warner Bros was contacted for comment.
Leading commercial lawyer Mitchell Zadow, the managing principal of Sharrock Pitman Legal, said the AFL and Warner Bros should be able to broker an agreement.
“It would be possible for the parties to negotiate a commercial deal that is in the interests of both parties, provided they can reach agreement. This might involve, for example, Warner Bros licensing the use of their trademark for use by the AFL. It’s unlikely they would licence the cartoon character, or that the AFL would even want that. But the name itself might be a possibility,” Zadow said.
The final determination for the trademark application lodged by the AFL is set to be made by IP Australia by July 17.
“IP Australia is the government body that administers trademark registrations in Australia. They are currently considering the AFL’s application to register ‘Tassie Devils’ as a trademark in various classes or categories of goods and merchandise. That application has been pending since 2019. They might find that this application can be approved regardless of Warner Bros’ existing trademarks,” Zadow said.
There is also the possibility, Zadow said, of Warner Bros financially benefiting from the club name.
“Warner Bros might decide they can benefit from the publicity and awareness of their character. That might encourage them to be more flexible when it comes to reaching an agreement with the AFL. But, on the other hand, they might decide that their IP in the character is very valuable, and they are not willing to part with that without being fairly compensated,” Zadow said.
The Devils moniker has previously been used in the National Basketball League, when the Hobart Devils and later Hobart Tassie Devils existed from 1983-1996. Once the franchise collapsed, Warner Bros trademarked the name “Tasmanian Devil” in 1997.
The NBL was unable to use the Devils name when Tasmania returned to the league in 2021, as the AFL had filed a trademark application for Tassie Devils with the federal government. Devils was going to be used for a potential Tasmanian VFL club, but instead was used for the talent league club.
