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How can I obtain the necessary items to be able to make a website using team logos, player names and pictures?
Anonymous9 views4 answers
I am interested in making a "fantasy sports" website. I would like to use team names, player names as well as logo's, graphics and player pictures. How do all of these sites online obtain the rights to do so? Is it easy? I'm guessing not, and it probably comes with a heavy payment, no?
Q: How do all of these sites online obtain the rights to do so?
R: There's an awful lot of sports out there and many organized leagues have been formed to commercialize those sports. So let's pick one - say baseball.
What do you mean by "all these sites" that use Major League Baseball's intellectual property to create fantasy baseball leagues? There are only three main ones: ESPN, Yahoo!, and CBS. These companies license the rights to create MLB fantasy leagues from MLB Properties LLC, Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P., and the MLB Players’ Association. The licenses include the right to use MLB's trademarks [league and team logos and taglines], copyrighted material [photographs, game summaries and some statistics] and players' names and likenesses. Anyone running a fantasy baseball league that uses MLB's trademarks and copyrighted material w/o a license is an infringer and will ultimately be shut down.
Some fantasy sports leagues only use the players' names and game statistics. That may be lawful. You should read the following articles below.
When Fantasy Meets the Courtroom: An Examination of the Intellectual Property Issues Surrounding the Burgeoning Fantasy Sports Industry by Zachary C. Bolitho [
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract...
].
Whose Stats are They Anyway? Analyzing the Battle Between Major League Baseball and Fantasy Game Sites by Stacey B. Evans [
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract...
].
The Freedom to Imagine Fantasy Sports: Applying New Ideas in Copyright Law to Professional Athletes' Right of Publicity by Ryan T. Holte [
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract...
].
At the end of the day, it's an extraordinarily involved process to acquire the licenses necessary to create a fantasy sports league for just one sport. You need to spend a very long time with a competent intellectual property attorney to help plan how your league will be set up, how your business will be set up, and how your website will look and function. Good luck.
Professional sports leagues police their trademark rights very agressively, and yes, the license fees are expensive, if they're even available. Hire an IP lawyer to inquire about licensing the rights you'd need.
Disclaimer: Please note that this answer does not constitute legal advice, and should not be relied on, since each state has different laws, each situation is fact specific, and it is impossible to evaluate a legal problem without a comprehensive consultation and review of all the facts and documents at issue. This answer does not create an attorney-client relationship.
The rights of publicity for the individuals and the trademark rights of the teams and leagues must be licensed for your site to make use of the logos, names, pictures and related materials. You should not try to operate without first obtaining proper advice from a IP attorney, one who has experience in this specific area, as to what needs to be licensed and the limitations as to your use . The attorney can inquire on your behalf and negotiate if you decide to go forward. As mentioned in the first response, teams and leagues are very agressive about their valuable trademarks. Good luck.
You should try to retain a lawyer to look into this matter for you to get the rights to show these items and also talk to other businesses to see how they solve these issues.
This answer does not create an attorney client relationship. Consult an attorney before you decide on a course of action.
