Blonde we like wins Downhill (Last name rhymes with "Bonn") | Hacker News Reader

Blonde we like wins Downhill (Last name rhymes with "Bonn")

uvexsports.com

74 pointsst3fan18 comments

This virtually demands a reprise of that Guardian piece:

Objections we cannot relate from IP holders we cannot detail prevent us from announcing congratulations to the downhill skier whose name we cannot utter. At the completion of the run we cannot describe she took off the helmet we cannot hawk and and spoke words we cannot repeat. This made us feel emotions we cannot get into, particularly not in front of our wives.

Rock on, anonymous downhill skier.

What was the original article? I can't seem to hunt it down.

"During the Olympics", she said with a sneer "your site can't use an Olympian's name even if they use your gear."

Something makes me think that wouldn't hold up in court. You can't copyright a fact.

I don't understand the exact legal background, but I assumed this was a trademark issue: before being able to compete, the athletes presumably have to sign their names away for the duration of the games such that the official sponsors get exclusive rights to use them.

You're right that you can't copyright facts, and at any rate you can't copyright short phrases like names.

But this is a trademark or right of publicity question, not a copyright question. Copyright deals with rights in written works. Trademark is about rights to brand names and marks on products. Rights of publicity are about using famous people's names and likenesses without authorization.

I don't know much about right of publicity, but as far as trademark goes at least, there is this exception known as "nominative use," which basically allows you to use a trademark to refer to a product, so long as it doesn't look like you are using the name to market your own products. This is what allows you to use a trademarked product name in a review, for example.

My guess is that, in this case, the company could have pushed back a bit on the IOC's blanket warning. Nominative use (which, incidentally, is backed by the First Amendment) would at least protect the right to report newsworthy events about Olympians. But if the company's reports start to look more like product endorsements or marketing pitches, it would become a different question.

Endorsements are another issue entirely, but there's something very wrong with the legal system if there are any limitations on accurately stating that $athlete used $product during $event.

Unfortunately it seems you can copyright numbers. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1045150

Now, that's how you do PR!

For those not following the Olympics, it's Lindsey Vonn: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindsey_Vonn

silly things like this make me want to be mischievous and create a site that lists all the gold medalists winners + brands they were wearing.

The IOC needs to be dismantled.

No, I just think there needs to be a better way of funding it... Corporate sponsorship always comes with strings, and when you mix large multi-nationals into the mix, things can get complex real fast.

Absolutely. They are the cultural equivalent of patent trolls.

This is, in many ways, very similar to what's happening with the CBC here in Canada. CTV outbid the CBC for broadcast rights, and their contract is so strict that the CBC can't even use the Olympic footage for news segments until at least 24 hours has passed. It's complete and total nonsense, because in nearly any other context, fair-use provisions would apply. Somehow, because it's the Olympics, all rationality goes completely away.

I find it odd that the biggest display of corporate advertising in the events themselves are the skis and snowboards.

No other piece of equipment gets to pimp their name and logos as much. Why?

Because skiing and snowboarding are the most important pieces of gear in the big events that are also accessible to the general public? Skates are probably the exception but don't tend to generate that same cool factor in general use.

That, and the fact that they have a big, otherwise unused upper surface. Where would you put a big honking logo on a skaters shoe?

It would also be nearly impossible for the IOC to say 'cover that logo on the base' as you would be changing the sliding characteristics of the ski or snowboard.

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