Attorneys from Alabama football and LeBron James’ media platform “Uninterrupted” are working together to resolve a matter over a grievance from James’ side, one that James is adamant he will not let the football program get away with.
Alabama created a series called “Shop Talk”, with the first episode being released last week. The video features Nick Saban and program alums like Julio Jones talking in a barbershop setting.
Shop Talk: Ep.1 Part 1 from Alabama Football on Vimeo.
On Monday, ESPN reported that attorneys for Uninterrupted sent a letter to Alabama alleging copyright infringement.
“Your continued exploitation of ‘Shop Talk’ infringes ‘Uninterrupted’s’ copyright, trademark rights and other valuable intellectual property rights in ‘The Shop’ and significantly damages ‘Uninterrupted’s’ commercial prospects for ‘The Shop,’ the letter reportedly said.
Here’s a look at “Shop Talk” for comparison:
.@KingJames doesn't drive — unless he's got a droptop and a Christmas Day game to get to. #TheShop pic.twitter.com/27n7Tq0WfZ
— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) March 6, 2018
Saban was asked about the controversy on Tuesday and seemed somewhat dismissive.
Nick Saban reacting to @KingJames' assertion that Alabama's "Shop Talk" show infringes on and damages the commercial prospects of James' show "The Shop" @abc3340 @ClayTravis @espn #RollTide pic.twitter.com/3veXRBssX8
— Scott Forester (@scott4ester) April 3, 2018
“I think LeBron James is a great player,” Saban said. “There’s been at least 20 barbershop-type things I’ve seen. I didn’t even know he had one. I’m sorry anybody could be offended by something we were just trying to have fun with. I enjoyed it and we’re going to continue to do it.”
James was asked about it after the Cavaliers’ game on Tuesday. He seemed perturbed and was adamant that he would not let Bama get away with it.
LeBron addresses Alabama's "Shop Talk" and Nick Saban's comments about being unaware of Uninterrupted's "The Shop" series: "The lawyers will figure it out." pic.twitter.com/5Ovx1EAuHN
— Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) April 4, 2018
“You guys know Nick Saban more than I do, so that’s exactly what I would think he would say. I built UNINTERRUPTED for a reason and for us athletes to have a platform to be able to speak about whatever we want to talk about. I respect him as a coach, but I’ll be damned if I’ll allow someone to use our platform or try to do the same thing we’re doing and just think it’s OK.
“So, the lawyers will figure it out.”
In order to maintain a copyright, entities must enforce their exclusivity or risk losing their protection, which is why James’ company is taking this matter so seriously. He certainly did not seem happy about Saban’s attitude towards things.
