Sports Leagues Accused of Being Douches About Their Broadcast Rights

Oh how we love a good exercise in copyright law. Like the one we’re about to see with sports and entertainment broadcasters, who always find room in their programming to recite a ditty like this one from Major League Baseball: “Any rebroadcast, reproduction or other use of the pictures and accounts of this game without the express written consent of Major League Baseball is prohibited.” Turns out, such statements might be illegal-ish, since, in essence, they strip law-abiding folks from taking part in lawful use of the broadcast, which may or may not involve drawing cocaine dots on Barry Bonds’ upper lip.

In a Federal Trade Commission complaint brought by the Computer & Communications Industry Association (backed by the likes of Microsoft, Google and Yahoo), the argument is being made that such warnings unfairly prohibit First Amendment use of the copyrighted content. Like making video mash-ups of hot soccer players – who often find themselves with their shorts torn or around their ankles – for the ogling eyes of YouTubers. Which is certainly a position we can get behind.