Edina schools paid $150,000 to artist for use of hornet logo

The Edina Public School District will pay $150,000 to the artist who designed its scowling green hornet logo, as part of a settlement to end a copyright lawsuit filed just over a year ago.

The school board voted to accept the settlement agreement last week, but in a statement released after the vote, the Edina schools said the terms of the agreement with logo designer Michael Otto were confidential. The Star Tribune obtained the settlement through a public records request.

An Edina school spokeswoman said the agreement had been considered confidential only before the board vote. Otto declined to comment.

An Edina High School graduate who designed the hornet in 1981 as part of a school contest, Otto had not been paid for use of the logo before. The settlement ends a previous agreement that required Edina schools to run new uses of the logo past him.

Edina will contribute $12,500 toward the settlement amount, with the district's insurance company covering the rest.

The old agreement between Otto and the district was the root of the dispute, after Edina took the hornet logo to a third-party apparel company that takes a cut of merchandise sales. Otto said in 2021 that he typically approved any use of the logo, but didn't like non-local companies making a profit off the hornet. The district said the agreement limited the companies it could partner with to make sports jerseys and other hornet-branded apparel.

Edina and Otto will be co-owners of the logo going forward. Now, the district or Otto can use the logo any way either of them want. Anyone else who wants to use the hornet has to get permission from either Otto or Edina. Neither will share any revenue or royalties with the other from using the hornet logo.

Draft meeting minutes show the school board voted unanimously to accept the agreement.