The greed of the NFL knows no bounds
http://www.wwltv.com/news/Whoownswhodat-82841572.html
sometimes, ya just gotta laugh
In this case "Who dat" is the the secondary issue with the NFL.
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.
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?
Who Dey?
Just Win, Baby
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?
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.
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.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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
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