Posted on 11/11/2006 2:36:20 PM PST by FLOutdoorsman
TUSCALOOSA, Ala., Nov. 7 In the solemn cathedral of college football devotion and instruction that is the Paul W. Bryant Museum here, a large painting dominates the main chamber. It is called The Sack, and it shows an encounter between a Notre Dame quarterback and a human locomotive in crimson and white.
Ive never been hit like that before, the quarterback, Steve Beuerlein, said after his near-lethal sack by Cornelius Bennett in 1986, in the University of Alabamas first victory ever over his team.
Daniel A. Moore, who painted The Sack and scores of other renditions of signal moments in Alabama football history, said he felt something similar last year, when his fax machine began to spit out a lawsuit from the university.
Mr. Moores paintings, reproduced in prints and on merchandise, violated the universitys trademark rights, the suit said. It asked a federal judge to forbid him to, among other things, use the universitys famous crimson and white color scheme.
Athletes, sports leagues and universities around the nation have become increasingly aggressive in protecting what they say is their intellectual property, and their claims have met with a mixed response from judges and fans. But almost no one here thinks the suit against Mr. Moore is a good idea.
This lawsuit is the equivalent of the Catholic Church suing Michelangelo for painting the Sistine Chapel, said Keith Dunnavant, an Alabama alumnus and the author of Coach: The Life of Paul Bear Bryant.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Can't understand this controversy -- they sort of contribute to the overall experience of the fans (and heaven knows, this year, anything positive should be greated with gratitude.)
A trademark on spirit? Hogwash.
If anyone used Glidden's team colors to paint your garage, expect your lawsuit soon.
I think this is the painting.
There's no trademark infringement. They have no case.
They want to copyright red and white? Wait 'til the Swiss find out.
Donald Fagen and Walter Becker better watch out.
NCAA member schools are getting VERY aggressive about protecting their copyrights. On the craft-show circuit, you have a fair number of people who sell college-related stuff--photographs, paintings of stadiums, fun art, that kind of thing. At many shows my wife and I do, there are prominently distributed letters by some association of colleges that their trademarks--including color schemes--are absolutely not to be used in any work sold without their express permission, which means them getting a piece of the action. So this isn't surprising to me.
}:-)4
Imagine if Nebraska or Penn State tried to trademark their colors.
The schools are already so greedy about licensing, this is ridiculous. We used to run a webstore for NC State Alumni and another for Wofford Alumni, and eventually closed them down. Can't make any money, the schools want ridiculous percentages.
I thought you had to have an intelellect before you could claim intellectual property rights. Stupid, stupider, stupidest.
Daniel A. Moore, a sports artist for more than 25 years, used to get sideline passes from Alabama, but now he is not welcome on game day.
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