The greed of the NFL knows no bounds

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.wwltv.com/news/Whoownswhodat-82841572.html">http://www.wwltv.com/news/Whoownswhodat-82841572.html</a><br>sometimes, ya just gotta laugh

In this case "Who dat" is the the secondary issue with the NFL. <br>I think the primary reason is they are protecting the Saints colors and logo which the team is entitled to licenseing fees. Nothing more nothing less. <br><br><br>Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this post is entirely my own I am not a trademark lawyer nor do I ever want to be.....

Who Dat?<br>Who Dey?<br>Just Win, Baby<br><br>The NFL owns these phrases now when they're written in the respective team's colors? And when using such a widely known and pretty generic fleur de lis?<br><br>Garbage.

I'm with HD Don on this one. It's more than just the phrase "Who dat?". I'm sure if they had printed a white T-shirt with the phrase in red, there'd be no problem; but used in conjunction with copyrighted trademarks and colors, and it becomes an infringement, because in the public lexicon, the phrase has become intrinsically identified with the NFL team.<br><br>
It's like if you printed up a T-shirt with just the word "Silhouette" on it, you'd probably be okay. But add the Hot Wheels logo, or a picture of the toy, and Mattel would be after you in a heartbeat.

The manufacturer should have better thought this through. If the fleur de lis was red or green then they would have a better arguement. Being Saints colors will likely get them in trouble.<br><br>
Should it? There does have to be a line drawn somewhere. If I had printed them up in a different color I would have told the NFL to bite me.

Very humorous to me...<img src="http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/roll.gif"><br>

Friday's 1/29 Times-Picayune headline---WHO KNEW DAT? NFL claims ownership of longtime fan phrase. Caption---Saints fans have embraced the words "Who Dat" into their lives. Many are now indignant that the NFL claims it owns them.<br><br>
Sounds like this term may go as far back as minstrel shows from the late 1800s, so the term is in public domain and nobody owns it. In a similar case from 1983, a judge ruled that neither two parties had exclusive rights to the phrase and allowed both to sell shirts using it. <br><br>
One of the parties from the 1983 case and the NFL now claim ownship of the name so it's unclear who own the rights, if anybody.<br><br>
By the way, the woman who got a cease and desist letter from the NFL says business is booming over the brouhaha. The league allowed her to sell off her remaining Who Dat t-shirt stock and the "collector's item" sold out in 2 days---TB