New Mexico State Univ. and Oklahoma State Univ. yesterday announced that they have "reached a licensing agreement, settling a federal lawsuit OSU had filed in October over NMSU's use of a Pistol Pete image," according to a front-page piece by James Staley of the LAS CRUCES SUN-NEWS. The schools "will have joint custody of the old Pistol Pete logo NMSU has dubbed 'Classic Aggie.'" NMSU Assistant Dir/News & Media Relations Justin Bannister said that the agreement "calls for NMSU to pay OSU an annual $10 licensing fee 'in perpetuity,' or for as long as it plans to sell Classic Aggie items." In return, NMSU can "sell or distribute as gifts 3,000 Classic Aggie items per year in the university bookstore, online or through alumni relations." Bannister added that the licensing agreement "doesn't allow NMSU to use the Classic Aggie image for athletics or recruiting students." Staley notes OSU "paid $400 to file the civil suit in federal court." It would "take OSU 40 years to recoup that expense from the NMSU licensing payments" (LAS CRUCES SUN-NEWS, 12/4). In Albuquerque, Mike Bush notes the two mascots "are almost mirror images, both with wild mustaches, bowed legs, tilted cowboy hats and one gun holstered and the other drawn." NMSU’s "more modern Pistol Pete, which the school has used for years, has a standard, squared away cowboy hat, a groomed mustache and both guns drawn." The agreement "does not impact NMSU’s current logo, which was not part of the original complaint" (ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL, 12/4).
