Photographer sues Nike over use of Michael Jordan Jumpman logo

Photographer Jacobus Rentmeester, a man with a very serious name, has brought a very serious lawsuit against Nike to federal court in Oregon.

According to ESPN's Darren Rovell, Rentmeester is suing Nike for copyright infringement, claiming the sports apparel giant lifted his work in order to fashion its now-iconic and ubiquitous Jumpman logo - a silhouetted Michael Jordan in flight. 

Rentmeester is reportedly demanding profits associated with the multi-billion-dollar Jordan brand, and also seeking to halt current sales and plans for the brand's future.

From Rovell: 

Rentmeester says he took a picture of Jordan in his Olympic warm-ups in 1984 for an issue of Life Magazine. After it was published, Nike's Peter Moore, who designed the first Air Jordans, paid $150 for temporary use of Rentmeester's slides. Rentmeester says Nike used his photo to recreate the shot with Jordan in Bulls gear with the Chicago skyline in the background, but that it was essentially still his work.

"Mr. Rentmeester created the pose, inspired by a ballet technique known as a 'grand jete,' a long horizontal jump during which a dancer performs splits in mid-air," the lawsuit says. "The pose, while conceived to make it appear that Mr. Jordan was in the process of a dunk, was not reflective of Mr. Jordan's natural jump or dunking style."

The suit claims Rentmeester directed Jordan, who practiced the desired leap, an unnatural move for the star because he typically held the ball with his right hand. Jordan, the suit claims, backed up the idea that it was indeed a ballet move in a 1997 interview with Hoop Magazine.

Rentmeester reportedly claims to have threatened to sue Nike back in March of 1985 before agreeing to grant them use of the Jordan logo for two years on North American billboards and posters in exchange for $15,000.

Why Rentmeester is bringing the copyright suit to court now, 28 years after that two-year contract would have expired, is anyone's guess.