Okay. So they want you to change your name. That may be a valid claim if clutch city is stated somewhere as being a registered trademark. And it is fair to request no links to the NBA site. But as far as I see it, if you enlist it as being taken from that particular site, it isn't as if you are stealing their property. You are actually bringing them visitors and more attention than they may normally get. You could also state at your opening page that this is a site made by fans for fans and anyone else who would like to visit, and this site is not owned (affiliated etc) by the actual Rockets organization and NBA. But the rest of it has to go. ... don't people have anything better to do with their time than worry about who is visiting what site, etc? This is the best site. The Rockets site doesnt even hardly ever get updated. And for the most part, it bites. This site has been enlightening and beneficial to all that have visited. It doesn't harm anyone in any way. I'll be happy to support ya', Clutch. Keep us updated on the situation. [This message has been edited by 4CJ33 (edited August 06, 1999).]
Even if clutchcity becomes mobleyscity, I'll still be here. But I will give even less money to the NBA than I do currently -- which will be hard because I don't give them any money. But, I'll find a way.
I thought the chronicle came up with the term clutch city. I didn't know you could trademark someone elses words after they make them famous.
By the way, I love the thought of seeing some of those BIG BODY FORMS without their uniforms on. HMMM... (LMAO! Houston Rocket p*rn!) ------------------ (in song) 'cause I never...knew love like THIS before...
Is the NBA that stupid? I guess so. They obviously don't know good publicity, not to mention free publicity, when they see it. What a bunch of misguided fools....
Clutch, I really don't think "Clutch City" is copyrighted. I say, go to City Hall, in the copyright section, and sign forms to oficially make "Clutch City" your (C). ------------------
Clutch, I hope the p*rn remark was a joke ! ------------------ Go Rockets! Um? Is "Rockets" also copyrighted? I meant, GO HOUSTON PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL TEAM!
Does this move by the NBA have anything to do with the 'cybersquatting' bill before Congress. The bill, not yet law, bans use of domain names in bad faith. I just saw mention of it in CNN: http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9908/06/cybersquatting.reut/
Now I absolutely have to post! I mean..waht the Fu@@ is up with this? This matter is only called jealousy. They're just mad a Clutch and Clutchcity suceeding. It's like 2pac once said, "In the ghetto if you saw a rose growing out of a crack in the concrete, it was a beautiful thing." What I mean by this is that ClutchCity was not popular 5 years ago,but now it has all the hits. All I can say is THEY CAN HATE US NOW,BUT WE WON'T STOP NOW! Lets fight it and Support Clutch! from: your number one Rocket believer
This is just a little thing I found in the 98/99 Media Guide: "The information contained in this publication was compiled by the Houston Rockets and is provided as a courtesy to our friends and the press and may be used only for personal or editorial purposes. Any commercial use of this information is prohibited without the prior written consent of the Houston Rockets. All NBA and team insignia depicted in this publication are the property of NBA Properites, Inc. and the respective teams and may not be reproduced for commercial purposes without the prior written consent of NBA Properties, Inc." Websters dictionary defines commercial as (this is the one most pertaining to this subject): a) made, done or operating primarily for profit b) designed to have wide popular appeal. Now, as we all know, Clutch isn't making money on this site, therefore, there goes the profit argument. However, the second one concerning wide popular appeal could be sticky.... Also, the team lists their address as being in "Clutch City, Texas," which pretty much leads me to believe Rocketball, Ltd. has the copywright/trademark. ------------------ Jenna Signed, sealed, delivered, I'm stuck as a you-know-who fan 'til 2003. Once I decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing, I'll let ya know! [This message has been edited by Jenna (edited August 06, 1999).] [This message has been edited by Jenna (edited August 06, 1999).] [This message has been edited by Jenna (edited August 06, 1999).]
I'm going to do everything I can do to help clutchcity.net out! I plan on writing my local newspaper about this, and voicing my opinions to the NBA, and other top basketball officials via email. This kind of stuff turns people away from professional sports. The NBA should be glad you do a site like this, and dont have any advertising banners off of it. As far as I can see, you dont make money from this site, so why does the NBA care!? ------------------ Sir Charles is DA MAN.
Yeah, if anything, Clutch is losing money for running the site. 1) The servers, domain, BBS, resources, writers, etc. cost money. 2) There are no banners on this site, thus no income and certainly no profits are made off ofthe Houston Rockets and the NBA. ------------------ FIGHT THE SYSTEM-SAVE CLUTCH CITY!
I would be more than happy to write any letter(s) needed or contribute $$ to support your efforts against the NBA suits. What a bunch of crap. If anything this site promotes the NBA and is free publicity for them.
Clutch, Why don't you get in contact with Channel 11 (KHOU-TV)in Houston. They know about the site and have publicized it. Hopefully, they can be a good ally. Rob P.S. Wonder if the NBA got mad after the Maloney story?
Docter Robert - LOL! I just have one suggestion, and that is to make just as much noise for this injustice as we did when the Hakeem rumours leaked out. Only problem is, the NBA has a lot less class than the Houston Rockets, and they could care less about the Houston fans. But the day the NBA tries to shut down a Laker fan site, whoo, that will be the day Pig Miller appears on the cover of GQ.
Yeah Doc! Boo hoo. No Lakers, no precious money from NBC. Boo Hoo. Can't touch the Fakers. ------------------ RKMAN President of "The Matt Maloney & Rudy T. Haters Club."
Clutch: Recently, a precedent was set in this type of case when a man registered the domain names of several major corporations. Despite the trademark, the gentleman won a lawsuit filed by several of the corporations. The judge ruled that domain names do not fall under current provisions of US trademark or copyright enfringement laws and that, if the company wanted the names, they would have to pay him fair market value for them.
Clutch -- 1. Can you send me a copy of the letter? I'd like to see how much of a form letter it is. My suspicion, bolstered by what Nuggets4 said, is that they're trying to establish some kind of policy with respect to all fan sites, and you just happen to be on the list. Translation: They're not going to seriously go after you. 2. Their claim to own the phrase "Clutch City" is beyond ludicrous. It's the equivalent of Hakeem Olajuwon suing Dream.com or Charles Barkley suing Chuckwagon.com. The words came first. The pricks in suits came later. 3. The NBA is big. We fan sites are small, but there are thousands of us. The way to use this as an advantage is to make the NBA do as much work as possible on each case. My advice is to send them back a very polite letter expressing your profound respect for all legal requirements in this area and requesting specific documentation for each of their claims. If you don't get another letter back, proceed as if they'd said nothing. If you do get a letter back, send them another one pointing out the flaws in what they sent you and asking for more documentation. And so on. They've got bigger fish to fry. Eventually they'll get tired. (I'm happy to help draft these letters if you want help and are concerned about spending too much of your time on it.) 4. The other way to approach this is to treat it as a publicity opportunity. The #1 reason why it's stupid for the NBA to attack non-NBA fan sites is that the attack gives these sites publicity. clutchcity.net can get way more exposure from this one attack than from anything else the site has done. I would think that the most likely publication to pick up this story is the Houston Press. If you can get it into the Chronicle, so much the better, but I'd bet they're too cowardly. 5. If you just want to embarrass the NBA, rather than get publicity specifically for clutchcity.net, the best thing would be to collect info from other fan site administrators (e.g. Nuggets4) so you have enough material for a national story about the NBA (and maybe the NFL) trying to monopolize sports talk on the Internet. The political peg for this story is all the taxpayer money being poured into arenas for NBA teams. Somebody should ask the mayor why the citizens of Houston are being asked to subsidize the Rockets while the NBA is claiming to own the phrase "Clutch City" and is threatening these same citizens with legal action for gathering at fan sites to talk about the city's team. The bottom line, Clutch, is that you are not alone. If the NBA persists in this idiocy, we will make them hurt until they see that it's not worth their while. And whenever they decide they've had enough, we'll let them go.
