Hot on the heels of Middlesbrough’s unbelievable safety officer comes more buffoonry from the ‘greatest league in the world’. Net Result, the Premier League’s legal eagles, have written to The Offside, one of America’s foremost soccer blogs, demanding that they cease in using club crests on their blogs. Have a look at the letter here.
You do wonder if the Premier League knows just how ridiculous this makes them seem. We’ve already had the crazy concept that they are the sole owners of their fixture lists and the Football League have gone lawsuit crazy on anyone who bravely publishes their club’s fixtures. The Offside independently went ahead and contacted Hull City asking if they could use their badge – and Hull responded in the affirmative. Well played the Tigers.
Let’s not forget that this isn’t a commercial website raking in the money, but a collection of individual blogs by the fans. The game’s gone so far away from its routes as the people’s passtime it’s absolutely laughable. It’s very easy to argue that this is just another example of how the Premier League suits just don’t get the internet.
The idea that you could use some spoofs of club’s badges has produced some brilliant results.
Ridiculous it may seem, but for once it’s not the Premier League’s fault.
Club crests are trademarked, so they can be used to make money for the club and be used as a legal weapon against counterfeiters. (That’s why Fulham FC adopted the new ‘Stormtrooper’ logo a few years back; parts of the old crest were not the club’s to trademark but the new one is totally theirs.)
Unfortunately if you register a trademark then the law requires you to protect it vigorously – not just possess it, but protect it and do so vigorously.
Someone will have drawn the Premier League’s attention to The Offside, and therefore they are legally bound to go after them to protect their trademarks. If they had been notified and failed to act, then any number of dodgy knock-off gear merchants could say, ‘Well, The Offside did it and the Premier League did nothing, so why can’t we?’
The Offside contacted Hull City and that club gave the OK to use their trademark, so The Offside is in the clear there. As you say, well played the Tigers.
True, the game has got a long way from its roots (that’s a whole ‘nother discussion), but this time you can’t blame the suits.
Ian Cranna
Ian might well be right about the trademark issue with the Premier League but the myth about Hammersmith & Fulham Council and the old badge needs exploding.
LBH&F could have charged Fulham royalties for years but didn’t. There’s a distinct difference between the badges used by the council and the club and it includes the strap line at the bottom. Our says Fulham FC, while the Council’s has a Latin inscription ‘Pro Civibus et Civitate,’ which translates as ‘for the state and the people roughly’.
I have email documentation from the Council confirming that they had no objection to Fulham using their old badge and entered into no discussions with the club about it. The marketing men at Fulhamn just decided they’d use a horribly rebranded version.
Claire’s reply chimes in with what I remember from when I was heavily involved with the Back to the Cottage campaign.