Just a thought. There are a ton of lawyers here. Some of us work for large firms that let their associates do pro-bono work (i.e. work for free). I do not know much about trademark law, but it would seem to me that some kind of "fair use" is allowable without being a trademark infringement. It seems to me that maybe clutch city should bring a declaratory judgment action against the NBA to have the court determine that there is no trademark infringement. At the very least, a well-publicized lawsuit against the NBA would embarass the NBA so much that they might drop all plans against web-sites such as Clutch City.
If the NBA is boohooing about copyright protection laws, I think they need to check some of their own stuff out. A while back, they interviewed players around the league about what music they listened to. The players gave the names. I am sure the publishers might not appreciate that. Another example is what the Rockets page said Michael Dickerson (oops, said another copyrighted word. Sue me.) plays the Playstation. I don't see a TradeMark sign next to it in respect of Sony. I think it's all a bunch of malarky. Fight it hard, Clutch. Love the site.
Please don't let them get away with shutting down this website. It's the BEST on the web! You do a great job, Clutch! Not like the boring nba.com. The NBA should not be alienating fans so soon after the lock-out.
I was just thinking about something... Shouldn't EJ be on this thread somewhere? I mean, if anything falls under "conspiracy", its this. EJ, where are you? ------------------ I need a source. Any source. Good or bad. But I need one.
DAmn, the things ya miss when you don't visit this site in a while....the NBA's bull**** threats...Dream being robbed... that's how great this place is . Best of luck Clutch; you know we'll be there for ya if in any way possible, financial assistance included. Let's wait and see if the NBA is bored enough this offseason to make the next move...
Man, and we thought the Rockets were having a slow off-season! You know when the NBA bullies well-intentioned, fan-friendly sites and trademarks player photos and city nicknames, that it has way too much time on its hands! I think all that time they were endorsing the Michael Jordan Show, they were kept busy, now there is nothing left for them to do. Azim da Dream ------------------ "Realize if you have time to whine and complain about something, you have time to do something about it."
I followed a case about four years ago, about a Scottish Bed and Breakfast owner who had an attached coffee shop.The name of the coffee shop was McDonald's.The owner/lady's real name was McDonald. McDonald's Inc.(fast food franchise),wrote the owner a number of letters attempting to persuade them to change their name.Eventually big, bad McD's threatened severe penalties and an expensive lawsuit. It caused such an uproar in the press that although the McD Inc. won the right of infringement(go figure why) ... their sales in Scotland plummeted. The Coffee shop owner had to change the name of her coffee shop only, not her Bed and Breakfast. So she called it "The Little Shop That Can't Be Bullied By McDonald's Lawyers"(loosely translated) in Gaelic with a translation provided on the coffee shop's menu. The lady's sales rose by the tenfold.She now has several franchises of her own throughout Scotland. Sometimes the only thing that distinguishes a winner from a loser in any given battle,is the number of scars a winner is willing to endure before he prevails. The fight has just begun and we are all ready to accept some battle scars. Bring on the bullies.
Clutch, what's the latest on this pathetic "law-suit?" ------------------ RKMAN "We'll give you all our talent, for all your scrubs!" -Magic GM
If clutchcity.net goes down Im going to kill the people that shut it down and go crazy trying to get rockets info at bskball.com ... Armageddon is upon us and I will fight to the bitter end . This has made me more bitter and cynical . Ill probably be over it when I see a naked Maloney though !!!! woo hoo . Just kidding man .
Hate to steal the limelight, but I'm #100 now. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my family, God, my friends .........
Clutch, I agree, please fight this! I live way away from Houston, and you are my only link to the team that is up-to-date on anything going on. <u><marquee>I NEED THIS STIE!!!</marquee></u>
Clutch: As a medical investigator I have had to deal with more than my share of lawyers and disgruntled power brokers.A couple of suggestions,if I may be so bold: 1. Calling their bluff is easy and not entirely without merit.Answer their letters with adamant but polite refusal(with the help of a lawyer of course). 2. As a second level of defense, attempt a compromise,only if it leads to you retaining full rights to the site's name.Seperat agreements for individual sites are not unheard of,and usually have several clauses outlining what you cannot do,like promote direct sales,etc... .But then,you never were in it for the money anyway. 3. Last resort,if they have put you against the wall,or have you days away from a federal jurisdiction hearing, contact the Rockets and ask for "common usage" of their protected franchise rights to use NBA sanctioned trademarks. Each NBA team is allowed to use them in promotion and advertising.They can give you the Rockets Org. sanction by proxy,and you still control and have free rein to operate the site. 4. A personal phone call to Les Alexander would be helpful.Maybe before all this gets tangled up in litigation and boardroom bulls**t a call can be made. Cheers and good luck. Money,letter writting campaigns,sweat and support from a lot of people is available,just for the asking.
Well... I guess everyone else has said all the good stuff already. But - 1. As far as "copyright laws" go, they have no case. If you, and only one person could have, registered the domain name with the interNIC people, then you "own" the domain name. As long as you pay the dues to the interNIC you own the "clutchcity.net" name. (BTW - if you haven't already, I suggest registering the .net and .org soon!) 2. George Lucas wants all the STARWARS related names, but whichever names or different spellings of some of the names he doesn't already own, he has to buy them for the asking price... now he's a gazzillionaire, but he didn't pursue all of the names legally, because legally he has no case either... such is the case with the NBA. 3. If I was the first to register the name corvette.com, and I wasn't chevrolet, then Corvette.com would be mine legally because it's a sort of "first come first serve" system. 4. Don't worry, this'll blow over... and if not, I'd be happy to fill in the Dallas news media face to face... Also my Dad has done work with KHOU Channel 11 in Houston before, and I'm sure he'd help. 5. Like it's been said, "Why would the NBA want to shut down free publicity?" POSITIVE PUBLICITY??? Do they really want that much more negative publicity on their backs?? Do they want a "freedom of speech" fight? Even the 2 Live Crew is still around ya know, and we're only talking sports!!! "Banned In The USA" ring a bell? 6. If it's funds, or a petition signature, or picketing an office that this site needs... COUNT ME IN!!! Clutch, You've done nothing but promote the love of the game that is the NBA... and if we need to get an interview with Hakeem, or even Les for that matter... let's do what we must... I will help in every way possible!! -IROC it ----------------- Power to the fans!!! Hey NBA, Hey Stern... without the fans, and the fan sites, and the fans on talk shows keeping the league in front of the people, you got nothin' but a bunch of millionaires being paid by billionaires to play a game that cost nothing at the playground except some heart, determination, sweat, and a $6.00 basketball from a cheap department store. Wake up!!
