Who is the one true Fashion Santa?

The self-appointed sages of Twitter say it’s Paul Mason, who played the stylish St. Nick at Yorkdale Shopping Centre the past two Christmas seasons.

The mall says Fashion Santa is anyone they hire for the part.

The case of the dueling Santas may soon be before a judge, as both sides battle for the legal rights to the character.

Mason, 53, set social media ablaze as shoppers’ selfies with him as Fashion Santa went viral in 2014 and 2015.

This week, Yorkdale launched its 2016 Fashion Santa campaign with a new model, Adam Martin, in his place.

Mason has called foul.

“I’m standing by my brand and the rights of ownership and the intellectual property of a character I created, so I’m standing my ground,” Mason said. “There’s no way in hell I would have given up ownership.”

Yorkdale said it hired Martin after Mason ignored their numerous attempts to contact him about reprising the role.

“We reached out (to Mason) several times over the summer and we did not receive a response,” Yorkdale marketing director Lucia Connor said.

Mason disputed this claim.

“I didn’t stay relevant (by) not taking calls and nurturing good relationships,” said the longtime model.

Mason said that he chose not to return to Yorkdale because of “conditions” the mall placed on his continued employment.

One of the main sticking points was ownership of the Fashion Santa brand, Mason said.

Records published by Industry Canada’s intellectual property office show that a copyright for Fashion Santa was registered to Mason on Dec. 22, 2015, and was in the works no later than September, 2014 — three months before Mason debuted as Fashion Santa at Yorkdale.

Government records also show Oxford Properties Group Inc., which manages Yorkdale, filed applications on Dec. 8, 2015 to trademark the words “Fashion Santa,” and “Yorkdale Fashion Santa.”

Mason applied for a trademark on “Fashion Santa” less than two weeks later, on Dec. 21, 2015.

None of these trademarks are “registered,” meaning they have yet to be approved by the government.

Intellectual property regulations laid out on Industry Canada’s website say copyright protects works of literature, art, drama or music, and “performer’s performances.”

Trademarks, the regulations say, apply to “words, sounds or designs used to distinguish the goods or services of one person or organization from those of others.”

A person cannot trademark anything that already has a registered or pending trademark, the website says.

Connor said Yorkdale had been advised by its “various business and legal advisors” that “we can run our Yorkdale Fashion Santa campaign for the third consecutive year.”

She referred detailed questions on the campaign’s legality to Richard Powers, a lawyer and faculty member at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Business that Connor consulted on the campaign.

Powers said Yorkdale had not told him of Mason’s registered copyright for Fashion Santa.

But he said he nevertheless believes Mason “has very little leg to stand on” in the case.

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“If he’s copyrighting the name, I’m surprised you can obtain a copyright for that because the terms are generic,” he added. “Nobody owns the rights to Santa.”

John Simpson, an intellectual property lawyer who is not connected to the case, said a trademark could be issued to the mall even though Fashion Santa is copyrighted by Mason.

“My money would be with the mall,” he said.

Simpson said that, although a character or costume can be copyrighted, he is surprised a copyright was registered for Fashion Santa.

“A character is more than a name,” he said. “And if it’s just a name then it (should be) a trademark.”

Because Yorkdale was the first to apply for a trademark it will be up to Mason to oppose them, Simpson said.

The dispute will likely come down to determining not who thought of the idea first but who used it, and what a contract between the two parties may have said, he added.

“Was Mason an independent contactor who used Fashion Santa as a brand for his services?” he said. “Or is he just the vehicle by which Yorkdale is using Fashion Santa as a brand to promote its services to its customers?

Mason’s lawyer, intellectual property specialist Ashlee Froese, said she could not discuss specifics of the Fashion Santa dispute due to solicitor-client privilege.

Neither Mason nor Yorkdale would provide details of their correspondence or employment agreements.

Mason said he approached several retail businesses in the fall of 2014 with the idea of a “Fashion Santa” charity drive.

Yorkdale acknowledges Mason came to them with the Fashion Santa idea, but, they said, the mall had already been planning a similar promotion.

“(Yorkdale) had the idea for their holiday campaign to use a bearded older man,” said Lucia Connor, Yorkdale marketing director.

“Paul approached us about two weeks later and we brought them together. Yes, he was shopping it around and Yorkdale was looking for a bearded older model for their campaign.”

Mason said it was a shame his conflict with Yorkdale had gained so much attention just before the holiday season.

“Christmas is supposed to be a tradition and I said I was starting a tradition with the public, a new tradition,” said Mason. “And this chain of events has broken the tradition for a lot of people.”