[Infowarrior] - NHL Seems To Think Cheering On Your Favorite Team Is Infringement

[Richard Forno]

NHL Seems To Think Cheering On Your Favorite Team Is Infringement

from the insanity dept

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110429/16591714090/nhl-seems-to-think-cheering-your-favorite-team-is-infringement.shtml

Of the "major" sports leagues, generally the NHL has been the most reasonable, compared to the MLB, NFL and NBA, on intellectual property issues. However, it apparently still has moments of insanity. The NHL's legal department has apparently threatened a car dealership for having posted decals on its window saying "Go Canucks Go," in cheering on the Canucks in the NHL playoffs.

"Consumers are likely to be misled that the Vancouver Canucks have an official relationship with your dealership," NHL legal counsel Kelley Lynch wrote in the letter.

Plainly speaking, that's ridiculous. How long until fans will have to pay a team just to cheer them on? The dealership's manager points out the particular irony in this, since the team's slogan is apparently "We're all Canucks." Except when the lawyers get involved. 

Ah, but that's not all. A radio station in Vancouver has also received a cease and desist letter from the NHL, claiming that a contest it was airing violated the NHL's intellectual property. The problem? The radio station was letting fans of the Canucks take a sledge hammer to a van that was painted with logos of the opposing teams that the Canucks were facing, and of course they're saying that the use of the logos is infringing. That is, once again, ridiculous. No one is going to think that's an "officially sponsored" contest by the NHL. It's just some fans cheering on their team.