September 03, 2002

MLB threatens to sue fan websites: Now that the strike has been averted, Selig and cronies are going after fans that use team logos without permission. Was this the best PR move they could come up with to bring consumers back to the game?? (note: free subscription required)

posted by smithers to baseball at 10:48 AM - 9 comments

*awaits free login info*

posted by djacobs at 11:39 AM on September 03, 2002

sean.smith@sportswebconsulting.ca smithers22 the article isn't that good...it's pretty much all in the headline :)

posted by smithers at 11:49 AM on September 03, 2002

So are they going to sue fans when they don't show up at the World Series? Oh, wait. It'll sell out b/c too many of the fans are as spineless as the owners.

posted by Ufez Jones at 12:07 PM on September 03, 2002

thanks!

posted by djacobs at 12:25 PM on September 03, 2002

Here's a more detailed USAToday story. MLB is actually complaining about photographs of players in uniforms as logo infringements. On non-profit fan sites? What a stretch. Seems to me someone could easily find a fair use commentary/criticism/non-profit exemption in there somewhere. I hope fan sites don't back down in the face of what seems like a standard unjustified corporate power grab. Yeah, real smart move. Also, here's some background from a December 1999 article about the four biggest U.S. pro sports suing over domains like gophillies.net, including this quote from MLB's Ethan Orlinsky: "This will be the first of many lawsuits."

posted by mediareport at 10:32 PM on September 03, 2002

Christ. It was bad enough when MLB homogenised all the team sites under the 'ein Volk, ein Webdesign' *.mlb.com thing: a move which demolished the local colour which is, y'know, meant to designate local teams. No wonder fan sites took up the slack, when the official product is so anodyne. MLB is actually complaining about photographs of players in uniforms as logo infringements. Next step: stick a picture of yourself on the Web wearing an MLB cap or replica jersey, and get sued! Woohoo! They can stick this one up their bollocks, to coin a phrase.

posted by etagloh at 10:30 AM on September 04, 2002

One has to wonder if there will be a time where baseball tickets will include "no cameras, video or recording devices allowed [in the park]"

posted by jerseygirl at 12:01 PM on September 04, 2002

jerseygirl: welcome to Shea Stadium, 2002.

posted by djacobs at 03:18 PM on September 04, 2002

They do that already!? Eeesh. Fenway is incredibly liberal when it comes to that stuff. I document (nerd alert!) all the games I go to, so at the end of the season I have a little album of when I went and who I saw.

posted by jerseygirl at 03:48 PM on September 04, 2002

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