NFL, Titans Oppose Trademark of Roughnecks XFL Logo

[Mingjai]

18 hours ago, neo_prankster said:

 

I gotta disagree with you on this. Are you seriously defending the NFL?

 

The NFL is wrong to bully a competing league. All I see is the NFL unfairly crushing a league that was only able to play half of its season last year.

 

Plus, the NFL was wrong to let Bud Adams move the Oilers in the first place, let alone allow him to take the history and branding with him.

 

If the NFL were sending cease and desist letters to get someone to stop using a logo that the NFL had scant rights to, I can see calling that bullying. But the NFL isn't doing that here. The NFL has clear rights to the original mark, and junior mark likely infringes that mark under US trademark law, so the NFL has the right and obligation to protect its rights, otherwise those rights disappear.

 

Am I a bully if I try to prevent people from squatting on my front lawn?

[dont care]

What pro sports team has ever been “vital to the community” that’s absolute hyperbole. It’s just entertainment at the end of the day. Might bring in some extra money but every single market would survive if every sports team decided to close up shop. They did at the beginning of the pandemic

[LogoFan]

16 hours ago, schlim said:

It would've been so much easier if the Houston Roughnecks adhered to another wholly internet derived copyright rule about changing 30% or 40% of the original logo in order to make it their own. (I can't remember the actual amount, but I'm sure some of the board's copyright experts can correct me)

 

Also, people upset with the NFL in all this is outrageous.

The day the Roughnecks revealed their logo, I said the NFL would claim infringement because it's so obvious.

That said, I can kind of understand some of the NFL hate based on their history of hypocrisy.

On one hand, we have the NFL understandably going after the CFL over their team called the Baltimore Colts.
Going overboard, Al Davis actually tried to claim infringement on the Falcons when they went from red & silver to black & silver.
So the history of them being protective of their property is there.

Then, you have the flip side where the NFL was slapped down over their original Jaguars logo when they were guilty of being too much like another company's logo.
And of course, there's the ultra-hypocritical situation with the Ravens where the NFL clearly ripped off and then denied stealing a fan's logo submission.

Ultimately, hypocrisy doesn't trump copyright laws, so despite individual emotion in this, legally they are correct.


 

[The_Admiral]

On 1/13/2021 at 9:21 PM, CrimsonBull9584 said:

It's totally up to the customer to know what they are buying.

 

I'm sure some of you are away of the Asylum or, at the very least, the concept of "mockbusters". Basically where smaller studios create cheap films that capitalize on the success of bigger Hollywood films. They would often make the DVD cover of the film to resemble the film they are copying off in an attempt to sell their product.

 

Pod People: it has nothing to do with pods, it has nothing to do with people, it has everything to do with hurting.

[PaleVermilion81]

12 hours ago, the admiral said:

 

Pod People: it has nothing to do with pods, it has nothing to do with people, it has everything to do with hurting.

 

MOD EDIT: No need to bring politics into this.

[63Bulldogs63]

On 4/16/2021 at 11:06 AM, dont care said:

What pro sports team has ever been “vital to the community” that’s absolute hyperbole. It’s just entertainment at the end of the day. Might bring in some extra money but every single market would survive if every sports team decided to close up shop. They did at the beginning of the pandemic

 

Prior to the Kings moving downtown,  downtown sac was a ghost town. Failing businesses run down buildings etc.

 

The minute groundbroke on G1C downtown began a big revitalization. Redevelopment of downtown brought in new businesses and new jobs. 

 

Had the Kings ended up in Anaheim, VA Beach, ughh seattle, downtown would never have bounced back. The G1C would never have been built, which in turn Sacramento would have lost out on so hundreds of other events that would have skipped over that market.

 

So yes. Sports teams can be vital to certain markets.

[cajunaggie08]

On 4/16/2021 at 12:23 PM, Htown1141 said:

the NFL okayed a move of a pro sports franchise that was vital to its community, and as a Houstonian, I can solidly say that I will never purchase a licensed piece of Oilers memorabilia as long as I know that it will be partially shared revenue with the Titans organization. The NFL has fallen ass-backwards into a situation where they failed to recognize and properly capitalize on the history and identity that a lot of people related to within Houston, and only have themselves to blame. Morally, the NFL has offered no recompense to the city of Houston, so they shouldn't have the right to get mad when a team in a spring league galvanizes interest and creates a brand that can stand on its own, regardless of the inspiration. Personally, I believe that the logos do not cause confusion because they are both recognized as separate in the suggested market.

The NFL splits all merchandise sales between all of the teams. So 1/32 of all revenue from any Texans gear you bought goes to the Titans/Adams family.

[BBTV]

3 hours ago, cajunaggie08 said:

The NFL splits all merchandise sales between all of the teams. So 1/32 of all revenue from any Texans gear you bought goes to the Titans/Adams family.

 

Unless it was bought from the team store at the stadium... unless I'm confusing the arrangement with some other league.

 

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

The Titans have the obligation to defend their mark.  So we can't fault them for that.

 

But we shouldn't believe that the Roughnecks were blindsided by any of this.  They likely knew from the start that this reaction from the Titans would come.  And they aren't hurt by it, either; they got the extra publicity, as the name "Houston Renegades" was in the news a lot more than at any other time before (though the effect would obviously have been a lot better if the XFL had not had to shut down).  It's somewhat analogous to a lawyer in a trial asking a witness a loaded question that he or she knows is going to draw an objection, and then immediately withdrawing it.  ("Isn't it true that you are a lying sack of garbage? Withdrawn.")  As a result, probably more people in Houston feel an emotional connection with this team on account of its seemingly having been pushed around by the big, bad NFL, a phenomenon which will only help the team when it resumes playing.

 

So a good move by the Roughnecks putting the logo out there, drawing the attention, making the emotional impact, and then moving on.

 

[Gothamite]

13 hours ago, BBTV said:

Unless it was bought from the team store at the stadium... unless I'm confusing the arrangement with some other league.

No, you’re right.  Teams keep what they make from the own stores (which is why some teams have their own online shop in addition to the main NFL shop).  Everything else is split equally.  Unless you’re the Dallas Cowboys, which is another thing altogether.