LeBron James wants Bama. Or at least he wants their attorneys. The issue stems from a video Alabama posted on Twitter late last month promoting a new series called “Shop Talk.” It features head coach Nick Saban, and former Tide player Julio Jones in a light-hearted fun dose of chit chat while hanging in Bama’s new barbershop that’s located inside its facilities.
So what does James has to do with all this? On his “Uninterrupted” media channel, he has released two episodes of a web series called “The Shop” which is based on a similar concept to Alabama’s “Shop Talk:”
The issue at hand here deals with various types of intellectual property. First and probably the most significant is the question of trademark infringement. Trademark protection is intended to make sure that you, the consumer, don’t get one product confused with another due to the similarly of names. Here’s the full definition of trademark infringement:
Trademark infringement is the unauthorized use of a trademark or service mark on or in connection with goods and/or services in a manner that is likely to cause confusion, deception, or mistake about the source of the goods and/or services.
The trademark question here is whether Alabama’s “Shop Talk” is likely to be confused with LeBron’s “The Shop.”
Potential copyright infringement is also possible here. This occurs when a copyrighted work is reproduced, distributed, performed, publicly displayed, or made into a imitated work without the copyright owner’s permission. It’s pretty clear to see how Alabama’s “Shop Talk” and Bron’s “The Shop” could be confused to be one in the same.
On Monday, James’ Uninterrupted sent a letter to Alabama, which was obtained by ESPN:
“Your continued exploitation of ‘Shop Talk’ infringes ‘Uninterrupted’s’ copyright, trademark rights and other valuable intellectual property rights in ‘The Shop’ and significantly damages ‘Uninterrupted’s’ commercial prospects for ‘The Shop,’” the letter reads, in part.
The letter goes on to invite a conversation with Alabama before “rushing into legal proceedings.”
To sum this up, the real question here is whether LeBron’s “The Shop” is protectable as a trademark, and therefore can force Alabama to rename its new series to something else.
Furthermore, the idea of honest talk about sports and other topics in a barber shop is not protectable — anyone can make a series based on that idea. However, the specific expression of that idea (how it is implemented) can be protectable. Whether “Shop Talk” infringes on the expression of the idea of honest talk about sports and other issues in a barber shop is the real copyright question here.
For now, his lawyers at least believes it borders on that expression, prompting a discussion. We’ll see how Alabama responds to LeBron’s lawyers’ request for one on this issue.
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