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Want to buy Yao's Chinese national team jersey?

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by DonKnutts, Apr 11, 2004.

  1. DonKnutts

    DonKnutts Contributing Member

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    Check here: http://schoolyardlegends.com/product_info.php?products_id=17

    ... but it's illegal.

    See below:
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2312-2004Apr10.html

    These Basketball Jerseys Are a Copy, Right?
    Unauthorized High School Replicas Are Doing Big Business, Makers Are Getting Away With It
    By Greg Sandoval
    Washington Post Staff Writer
    Sunday, April 11, 2004; Page E01

    A growing number of retail stores and Web sites appear to have found a new way to cash in on the rising popularity of NBA stars LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Yao Ming. They are selling reproductions of the jerseys the basketball players wore in high school -- or in the case of Yao, as a member of the Chinese national team. The problem is that neither the athletes nor the high schools have authorized the sale of these jerseys.
    "It's clearly an infringement of rights," said Richard Schreibstein, Anthony's attorney.

    Imitations of the jersey James wore at St. Vincent-St. Mary high school in Akron, Ohio, and the one Anthony wore while playing for Oak Hill Academy of Mouth of Wilson, Va., are on sale on eBay, 818jerseys.com, Schoolyardlegends.com and at least five other online outlets.

    Representatives from James's and Anthony's high schools said that only Nike has permission to license and distribute the athletes' high school apparel and the Beaverton, Ore.,-company has yet to produce them, according to Schreibstein and St. Vincent-St. Mary Athletic Director Grant Innocenzi.

    "We don't see a cent from these other [Web sites]," Innocenzi said.

    Schreibstein and Bill Kuenzinger, attorney for Yao, said they sent Schoolyardlegends.com letters months ago demanding that they "cease and desist" selling the jerseys. Both lawyers said they have received no reply.

    "Just like with actors and actresses the names and images of these athletes has significant value," said Kuenzinger. "The value is diluted by people who act without authorization, and numerous laws prohibit the use of unauthorized materials."

    Repeated phone messages and e-mails to Schoolyardlegends.com over three days went unanswered until Friday, when someone who identified himself only as a representative of the company left a voice-mail message saying that Schoolyardlegends.com had done nothing illegal. He also made reference to public domain.

    Schoolyardlegends.com also sells the high school jerseys of Allen Iverson, Jermaine O'Neal and Magic Johnson, as well those of football stars Dan Marino and Michael Vick, for $160 each.

    Available on 818jerseys.com as well as other sites are the high school jerseys of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Wilt Chamberlain as well as James, Anthony and Yao for $59 each.

    The NBA and other professional leagues are constantly on the lookout for counterfeit or unauthorized merchandise, said NBA spokesman Matt Bourne. For instance, the NBA deploys staff to patrol for phony goods at apparel trade shows and exhibits. The four professional leagues help each other locate violators by sharing information and report them to law enforcement officials, Bourne said.

    But the NBA does not license vintage high school jerseys "because we're not involved in creating [high school] jerseys. We wouldn't know the difference between a knock-off and the real thing," Bourne said. The NBA does not pursue legal action against makers of unauthorized high school replica jerseys.

    Protecting against the unauthorized sale of an athlete's high school jersey is left to the athlete and their high school.

    On 818jerseys.comand the other Web sites that sell the jerseys are detailed photos of the front and back of each jersey.

    Anthony's gold Oak Hill Academy jersey is pictured on the site, with the school's name emblazoned on the front and Anthony's name and number 22 on the back. Anthony attended Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., for the 2001-02 school year.

    There are two James jerseys from St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, Ohio, a white version and a black version, with the word "Irish," the school's nickname, and James's No. 23 on the front and his last name on the back.

    While it's hard to determine how many unauthorized high school jerseys have been sold, Reuban Harley, vice president of Mitchell & Ness, a Philadelphia-based company that makes vintage pro-sports jerseys, said he sees a lot of them.

    "I saw somebody wearing Kobe Bryant's Lower Merion [high school] jersey," Harley said. "I knew it was fake 'cause it had a Mitchell & Ness tag. We don't do high school jerseys."

    Presumably, those who sell unauthorized high school jerseys are trying to exploit the wave of interest in sports memorabilia and apparel. The NBA reported a 60 percent gain in sales of its licensed products, such as jerseys and hats. The NBA sold more than 1.5 million replicas of James's Cleveland Cavaliers NBA jersey, the league's top seller, said Neil Schwartz, director of marketing for SportScanInfo, which measures sales activity for the sporting goods industry. Anthony's Denver Nuggets jersey was the league's next highest seller with more than 630,000 sold.

    "It's Jordanesque," Schwartz said, referring to former Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan, whose jersey was among the league's most popular and whose sneakers helped turn Nike into a sports apparel juggernaut.

    Following five straight years of sagging sales, licensed apparel by major sports leagues topped the $11 billion mark in 2003, according to a January report by SGMA International, a Florida-based trade organization that monitors the industry.

    One company trying to legally tap into the market for vintage high school jerseys is Taylor & Madison, said company CEO Clay Johnson.

    Taylor & Madison has obtained permission from 65 former NBA players and their high schools to sell their jerseys, which retail for $270. So far, the company has released six, including Larry Bird (Springs Valley High School in French Lick, Ind.), Rick Barry (Roselle High in Roselle Park, N.J.) and Bill Walton (Helix High School in La Mesa, Calif.), and has plans to launch an NFL edition this August.

    The company has agreed to pay Walton's high school $1,000 annually for five years. Johnson would not discuss how much any of the players are compensated other than to say that all the deals are negotiated on an individual basis. Walton said in a phone interview Thursday that he donates his share of the profits to Helix.

    The problem of copyright infringement "hurts all the companies that try to do it the right way," Johnson said.

    Copyright infringement and counterfeit goods cost American businesses more than $200 billion annually, according to the FBI. The sale of phony products has been linked to terrorist groups, the secretary general of Interpol has said. Many storeowners buy fake merchandise unwittingly, said Johnson.

    "The buyers for these companies don't do the research," he said. "They assume that manufacturer or distributor they buy from has obtained the proper permission. It's up to the retailer to do the homework."

    The vast majority of retailers, when told they are selling unauthorized goods, remove them from their shelves, Johnson said. He expects, however, the bootlegging to rise as the jerseys become more popular.

    "We report them to the authorities all the time," said Johnson. "My attorney and I shut at least one down a week."



    © 2004 The Washington Post Company
     

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