Using the names of Athletes

[JeremiahTS]

What is the name of your state?
Washington.

I run a sports information website and would like to use the names of some well know athletes in the header of my website. Are the names of athletes protected under copyright laws or can I use the names freely?

 

[divgradcurl]

Are the names of athletes protected under copyright laws

No, but they may be protected under trademark law. You can see if the particular athlete has his name trademarked by searching the USPTO database at www.uspto.gov. If the name is trademarked, you may not use it in your website header or metatags without permission.

Further, even if the name is not protected by a federally-registered trademark, the athlete may still try and claim common-law trademark rights under the Lanham Act. Unfortunately, you won't know whether an athlete is trying to claim common-law trademark rights until you get a letter from his or her lawyer...

Best bet -- don't use the names in your header or metatags. You can use them in your website if you are using the names to refer to the actual athlete, and are not using them to imply and sponsorship or affiliation, even if the names are trademarked.

 

[BelizeBreeze]

No, but they may be protected under trademark law. You can see if the particular athlete has his name trademarked by searching the USPTO database at www.uspto.gov. If the name is trademarked, you may not use it in your website header or metatags without permission.

Further, even if the name is not protected by a federally-registered trademark, the athlete may still try and claim common-law trademark rights under the Lanham Act. Unfortunately, you won't know whether an athlete is trying to claim common-law trademark rights until you get a letter from his or her lawyer...

Best bet -- don't use the names in your header or metatags. You can use them in your website if you are using the names to refer to the actual athlete, and are not using them to imply and sponsorship or affiliation, even if the names are trademarked.

I agree (SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!) with 99% of what you said.

EXCEPT, that no major search engine uses the metatag generated files for search queries anylonger due to abuse. The full-text equations of google, yahoo, leo and Jeaves all use it.

The only search engines who continue to use metatags are garage sites not worth the effort.

 

[divgradcurl]

EXCEPT, that no major search engine uses the metatag generated files for search queries anylonger due to abuse. The full-text equations of google, yahoo, leo and Jeaves all use it.

True. I just usually insert metatags into questions like this because, unlike so many things dealing with the internet, there actually is some case law (9th Circuit, if I remember correctly) that specifically addresses this type of behavior. It's not often you have truely on-point caselaw in the internet world, so I try to use it when I can...