While on the topic of the NBA, here's a little dust up brewing. For several months, the truly talented NBA humorist (moniker - The Cavalier) who runs YaySports has been writing stories about the Orange Roundie, complete with clever cartoons that look like they were generated from Comic Life. There might be some movie being developed with the same characters, perhaps of the animated variety.
Scoop Jackson, a 'journalist' of the ESPN variety (i.e., not much of one) decides to write 4,000 words based on the same concept, even using the same phrase for an anthropomorphic basketball, and doesn't even bother to cite the site he first sighted the Orange Roundie™.
Deadspin got this comment out of Scoop:
I actually thought I was giving them some love, even though ESPN edited out the part about them being the ball's favorite site. Just trying to have some fun. Hope you enjoyed the piece; tell YAY I thought their overall ball coverage was brilliant. The ball, on the other hand, had a few issues.“
Umm, probably not. The Cavalier responded:
We appreciate the compliment, Scoop, and that's exactly what we figured you'd say. ”Aww, thanks lil' blog guy. I'm gonna take your idea and run with it on my own in big boy land.“Look, we have the copyright on the ”Orange Roundie“. This isn't about ”respect for blogs“ or ”wahh wahh recognize us“, it's about a character that we own and commercial plans for, which you have taken and used without permission.
Personally, I haven't read ESPN more than half a dozen times since the master, Ralph Wiley died, and after reading half of Scoop Jackson's 'unfair use' essay, I remember why.
True Hoop has slightly more.
Tags: Basketball, /copyright, /fair_use
