MLB Using Trademark To Decapitate Fan Promotion Of The Philly Phanatic On A Flugtag
from the say-that-five-times-fast dept
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.
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Filed Under: fans, flugtag, philly phanatic, trademark
Companies: mlb
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It Might Not
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How to protect a copyright AND not kill your fan base
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Re: How to protect a copyright AND not kill your fan base
We can't have that, it might start something.
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Re: How to protect a copyright AND not kill your fan base
Seriously, it's in the article title.
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Stupid & Short-Sighted
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The constant default position here makes me wonder if any thought is ever given to possible reasons that may have some merit.
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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.
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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".
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But please continue posting false generalizations because you are unable to support any specific claim, if you wish.
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Maybe I'm an idiot
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