MLB Using Trademark To Decapitate Fan Promotion Of The Philly Phanatic On A Flugtag

from the say-that-five-times-fast dept

Fri, Sep 3rd 2010 5:38pm — Mike Masnick

Major League Baseball is notorious for it's incredibly over aggressive enforcement of copyright and trademark laws, often well-beyond what is reasonable. Reader Mark alerts us to MLB's latest move, which is to demand that a flugtag team from Philadelphia remove the head of the Philly Fanatic that it put on their flugtag for one of Red Bull's regular Flugtag competitions. MLB's defense, I'm sure, is that it has to enforce the trademark and make sure no one else is using it without a license. But that's just silly. First of all, there's only a trademark offense when it's a use in commerce, and a silly competition based on trying to launch homemade, human-powered flying machines that cannot fly, is not quite a use in commerce. But, more to the point, these are fans of the team trying to promote the team and promote their fandom. And MLB is shutting them down. That's not particularly fan friendly. And so, instead of the Philly Phanatic on a Flugtag, it'll be decapitated by a silly trademark claim.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: fans, flugtag, philly phanatic, trademark
Companies: mlb

17 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Pixelation, 3 Sep 2010 @ 7:15pm

MLB is not your friend. They want your money, period.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 3 Sep 2010 @ 8:53pm

baseball cannot die soon enough...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
bob, 4 Sep 2010 @ 4:33am

It Might Not
Ever die but baseball has been dead to me since the strikes.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 4 Sep 2010 @ 7:03am

With every law school diploma another angel dies.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
harbingerofdoom (profile), 4 Sep 2010 @ 8:00am

what is this "baseball" thing you are all on about?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
azmark, 4 Sep 2010 @ 12:48pm

How to protect a copyright AND not kill your fan base
Why don't they just voluntarily extend a one-use license to the offenders? Now they would have protected their copyright AND promoted good will with obviously enthusiastic fans.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Atkray (profile), 4 Sep 2010 @ 6:34pm
  
  Re: How to protect a copyright AND not kill your fan base
  Because that would be smart.
  We can't have that, it might start something.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 4 Sep 2010 @ 8:02pm
  
  Re: How to protect a copyright AND not kill your fan base
  Trademark...
  
  Seriously, it's in the article title.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
interval (profile), 5 Sep 2010 @ 5:51pm

Stupid & Short-Sighted
Its just free promotion. How the hell kind of are a bunch drunken frat boys going to cause product confusion among consumers?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 5 Sep 2010 @ 9:15pm

It seems the first thing to ever be declared here when a trademark holder raises an objection is that their actions are "silly and an overreaction". Maybe in some instances this is true, but certainly not every time.

The constant default position here makes me wonder if any thought is ever given to possible reasons that may have some merit.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Call me Al, 6 Sep 2010 @ 5:22am
  
  Re:
  "The constant default position here makes me wonder if any thought is ever given to possible reasons that may have some merit."
  
  Please feel free to suggest some.
  
  Certainly in this case it appears that the baseball team in question are muppets. Although chances are that most of the people involved in the team have no idea that this has happened and actually its just part of their legal team for whom cease and desist is a kneejerk reaction.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 6 Sep 2010 @ 4:40pm
    
    Re: Re:
    The "trademarked item" appears to be the "mascot" for the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team, and the associated legal issue is the use of a colorable imitation (if not identical)of the "mascot" by a group entered in an event sponsored by Red Bull.
    
    Some quick thoughts regarding possible concerns. Might MLB or the Phillies have contracts with one or more companies other than Red Bull where by turning a blind eye and deaf ear a contractual problem may arise? Might use of the mascot in the event place eitheir MLB or the Phillies in a negative light? Just because someone may want to provide free publicity does not mean that this is the type of publicity that a trademark holder wants.
    
    The above are, of course, not exhaustive of all possibilities, but they do to a limited extent point out that not every negative reaction a trademark holder may have in cases like this is "silly".
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 6 Sep 2010 @ 8:55am
  
  Re:
  Thank you for your brilliant contribution of absolutely nothing.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 6 Sep 2010 @ 4:41pm
    
    Re: Re:
    And your contribution to the discussion is......?
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Anonymous Coward, 6 Sep 2010 @ 6:41pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Nothing...except I realize that.
      
      But please continue posting false generalizations because you are unable to support any specific claim, if you wish.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 6 Sep 2010 @ 7:45am

But they can't trademark acronyms such as MLB or Multi-Level Butts or Mad Lawyers Banter or Momma Likes Boo. Who cares about them? They are irrelevant in the grand scheme of things and should consider themselves fortunate that I even allow my children to watch their bullshit with their beer ads and their players that act like gangsters. Who needs them? I get more entertainment out of my local high school team, who are not a bunch of Prima Bonnas and just love to play. Plus they don't sell or advertise alcohol there. My son calls beer grown-up soda after watching professional sports. Yea Good advertising.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
BBT, 7 Sep 2010 @ 8:41am

Maybe I'm an idiot
But WTF is a flugtag? Kids these days...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]