The legal rights to the legendary creature in a British Columbia lake have been transferred to an alliance of Indigenous nations who say the Ogopogo has always been part of their spiritual teachings.

Council members in the city of Vernon voted unanimously this week to give the Ogopogo copyright it has held since 1956 to the eight-member Okanagan Nation Alliance.

Ogopogo means spirit of the lake in the alliance’s language and the creature is said to live in Okanagan Lake.

Vernon Mayor Victor Cumming says the transfer makes sense because the centuries-old legend of the lake creature comes from the Okanagan Syilx people and they should hold the copyright.

All copyright, title, interest and property including trademark rights arising from the commercial and non-commercial use of the Ogopogo name were given to the alliance for one dollar.

Cumming said the city never used the name for economic gain, but twice granted permission for its use in children’s books.