MLB, youth leagues, and trademark law

by jch24 on May 28, 2008 5:31 PM EDT Comment 15 comments

I don't get it:

MLB to kids: You're not in our league (Southtown Star)

I understand that MLB has every right control its intellectual property. Hell, they have to aggressively protect their trademark or risk losing it. What I don't understand is how they can approach people who aren't using their logos or fonts. Better yet, how does it work with the Cardinals for example? Are there agreements between the AZ Cardinals, STL Cardinals and UL Cardinals?

What do you guys think of this? Are the fine folks at MLB overstepping their bounds and pissing off the types of people they should be actively courting? Or do they have a point?

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Seems wrong to me.

If my Little League team is the “Cubs,” who is to say it’s not lion cubs, opossum cubs or some other cubs critter real or imagined and not Chicago’s bear Cubs?

My first pee wee team was the Mets. Later, I moved to a different town and the teams there didn’t have mascots. We were Ramsey’s IGA, First National Bank, etc. No one used those names much, either. You were either on the green team, the red team, the gold team, etc. We didn’t have particularly creative folks, though, as we had an eight-team league and two ofthe teams were blue—dark blue and light blue. Honest.

We Are ... Marshall!

by Thundering Turtle on May 28, 2008 4:58 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

what they are doing

is just pushing away future fans from the game. MLB Inc seems hellbent on destroying itself with what it is doing – things like this and limiting bloggers, etc. it’s one thing to protect IPR. it’s a whole other thing to copyright the english language while at the same time hurting your own image. we need to go back to the days when corps could only sue when someone benefited financially from using a copyright. eight years of corporate rule has really killed freedom in this country. i mean, a woman named sam buck couldn’t even use her own name on her coffee shop in small town oregon!

kids won’t understand why they can’t be the cubs now, but they won’t forget it. bud selig needs to DIAF. worst. commish. ever.

BRING UP BRUCE!

by Daedalus on May 28, 2008 6:30 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

McDonald's did the same thing in the 80's

to a poor restaurateur in Queens.

by Red Menace on May 28, 2008 6:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

"His mamma called him Clay, I'ma call him Clay!!"

"Got a bump on the ole noggin, but otherwise god. And I get a new vehicle probably, w00t!"

by jch24 on May 28, 2008 7:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

They have the golden arches, we have the golden arcs.

"Hard being everybody’s hero, I suppose." - Buck O'Neil on Willie Mays

by Slyde on May 28, 2008 9:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

"Whatever comes out of that thing, don't look at it!"

Good advice for eating at McDonald’s too.

by Brendanukkah on May 28, 2008 9:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

america's true leader

stephen colbert, tackling the issue as i type this.

I am Bill S. Preston, Esquire.

by Dubman on May 28, 2008 11:36 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

My son's little league team was The Mustangs,

My Grandson’s is The Grizzlies
They are both huge Reds fans. So i don’t get what difference there is in the name thing.
My little team for 4 years + The Braves
!. I did not grow up with American Indian prejudice
2. I never rooted for the Milwaukee Braves
3. I still thought that Jane was hot in Bararella