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Baseball Won't Give You Permission to Talk About It

Fan calls league's bluff on legal disclaimer

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 5, 2009 11:25 AM CDT
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(Newser) – If you’ve ever watched baseball, you’ve probably heard the stern warning that “Any rebroadcast, retransmission, or account of this game, without the express written consent of Major League Baseball, is prohibited.” Well, Phil Villarreal of the Consumerist wanted to tell his buddy about a recent Diamondbacks-Astros game, so he wrote MLB hoping to get some express written permission. An MLB executive asked him to call her.

“How could anyone stop you from talking about the game in your own living room?” she asked, incredulous. He noted that the disclaimer forbids any “account,” and she promised to get back to him. She still hasn’t, so Villarreal has kept his buddy in the dark. But, if you’re wondering, he needn’t have. Baseball has no right to restrict accounts of the game, notes Michael Masnick of Tech Dirt, calling the claim “copyfraud.” The joke highlights a real problem: "Copyright holders are pretty regularly claiming significantly more rights than they actually hold over content."

Houston Astros' Kazuo Matsui sprays his bat in the eighth inning of a game against the Arizona Diamonsbacks.
Houston Astros' Kazuo Matsui sprays his bat in the eighth inning of a game against the Arizona Diamonsbacks.   (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Diamondbacks' Stephen Drew is unable to field a ball by Houston Astros' Jason Michaels.
Arizona Diamondbacks' Stephen Drew is unable to field a ball by Houston Astros' Jason Michaels.   (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 4 comments
Timinator2K
Sep 5, 2009 5:30 AM CDT
MLB has over-expanded and diluted its product...resulting in an over-all dull offering. That, and many teams like Pittsburgh don't have the BIG bucks to compete for the limited talent pool anway....and the franchise may leave that football/hockey city.
Mad
Sep 5, 2009 5:26 AM CDT
Part of the problem is that copyright holders must aggressively protect their copyrighted work or risk losing exclusive control over the intellectual property.
andyb
Sep 5, 2009 4:40 AM CDT
I strongly agree. It's not like sites like youtube aren't willing to work with companies like the MLB and allow them to earn money from ad revenue.

 
copyright law • MLB • copyright • baseball

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