Sep. 26—Tuscola High School could soon have a new mascot logo due to a copyright challenge from Appalachian State University.

App State claimed that Tuscola's mascot logo — a folksy bearded mountaineer with steely eyes and a corn cob pipe — bore too much resemblance to its own logo. It didn't help that the schools share the same black and gold colors.

Earlier this year, App State demanded that Tuscola quit using its mascot and logo.

Tuscola wasn't willing to give up its long-standing mascot, however, and instead set out to redesign the logo — a task taken on by Tuscola Senior Ava Kirkpatrick under the tutelage of teacher Kari Williams.

The revised logo was shipped off to App State for review, but was summarily rejected. Abandoning the mountaineer mascot altogether may be the only way to satisfy App State.

"I don't know we will ever get Appalachian's approval," said Pat Smathers, attorney for the Haywood County school board.

App State may not like it, but as long as Tuscola's logo is "sufficiently different" it should pass muster with copyright laws.

"I can't say we have come to an agreement with App State, but I think the new logo is sufficiently different to comply with copyright laws," Smathers told the school board this month. "You have to have three significant differences."

Senior Ava Kirkpatrick stepped up to the plate last spring to come up with a new rendering of a mountaineer. The new version pays homage to the original elements of the logo — the beard, the steely eyes, and the black hat all stayed.

But there were numerous tweaks to make it less similar to App State's. The end result is a more modern mountaineer, with less of a hillbilly vibe.

The protruding jaw line is less pronounced. The shirt collar has a plaid motif. The beard is tidier. The complexion isn't yellow. And there's a full head of hair instead of balding.

Most noteably, the pipe was also removed, which is likely for the best since promoting smoking runs counter to the school system policy banning tobacco use on school grounds.

Kirkpatrick led the redesign. Williams, who teaches interior design at Tuscola, offered feedback on the rendering, which went through several tweaks and iterations before being ready for prime time.

What now?

Smathers said he is no expert in the specialized field of copyright law, however. He recommended the school board send the logo to a copyright lawyer for an opinion.

If the copyright lawyer believes it would hold up in court, then Tuscola will start using it.

"It's not gospel yet," Smathers said.

In the meantime, Tuscola has been in a holding pattern on ordering uniforms and equipment.

"Our athletic teams use the logos quite a bit, on warm up gear, practice gear, signage around our venues and on our courts and fields," said Associate Superintendent Trevor Putnam. "We remain optimistic about getting a decision and being able to proceed."

The Big T athletic boosters club also uses the logo on apparel, from hats to hoodies, as do other third-party sellers of fan gear. The school system doesn't control that, as Tuscola's logo was in the public domain.

"We don't have copyright on the mountaineer logo we've been using, so it was widely used in distribution of fan gear by third parties," Putnam said.

Luckily, App State didn't issue a threatening letter demanding an immediate cease-and-desist of the logo, realizing that it would take time for Tuscola to make a transition

"We got a friendly email advising we were using their copyrighted logo and should discontinue that," Putnam said. "They said they were amenable to a phased removal."

Smathers, a Canton boy and Pisgah football player in his day, presented a copy of the new logo at a school board meeting this month. Afterwards, school board member Bobby Rogers said he wanted a copy of the picture of Smathers holding up the Tuscola logo. It could come in handy one day as blackmail.

It was decided Smathers should wear the logo on a shirt at the next school board meeting so the board could get a better idea of what it would look like on fan apparel.