Copyright: Is it Alright to Copy?

Copyright has become a standard of American living for the better part of this last century, and it's power and importance has continued to grow and spread. With the rise of the internet, and other various mediums to share and communicate, people want their ideas and creations to stay THEIR ideas and creations. While people have always wanted to copyright books, poems, music and film, the spread of copyright has expanded to sayings and slogans for major companies and individuals. One example in sports is the term "3-Peat" which was copyrighted by former coach Pat Riley. It was originally coined for the "three" "repeated" championships by the Chicago Bulls in three consecutive years, and is looking to use it for his Miami Heat team, should they accomplish the same feat. Another recent sports trademark is that of Johnny Manziel, and his "Johnny Football" copyright. The term was used to refer to him due to his success in college football over the last two years which included him becoming the first freshman (although not a true freshman) to win the Heisman Trophy. Sports have always been a high profile entertainment business and not unlike its counterparts, it has its fair share of copyrights. Before any game is televised on national television, the league of whatever teams are playing, typically airs a brief message stating that all video and audio that is about to be shown cannot be copied or reproduced without expressed written consent from the league itself. Each of the major sports leagues have their copyrights for almost every aspect of its sport, which allows them complete control of its exposure to the public. This prevents others from copying the games and showing them elsewhere for their own broadcast, it also means sports talks shows and television programs need to work out a deal in order for them to effectively cover that sport. So networks like ESPN and ABC need to have a contract with the leagues in order to broadcast and cover the sports. Copyright is a pivotal aspect of the sports world, as an entertainment industry, in order to remain successful.