Last week, Alabama Football released a trailer for a show its calling, “Shop Talk,” featuring Nick Saban, Julio Jones, and other notable Alabama alumnus in the barbershop having casual conversations, while getting their hair cut.
LeBron, through his media platform, Uninterrupted, already released a show back in 2017, called “The Shop,” which similarly features Cavs players, business associates, and other public figures having casual conversations, while getting their hair cut.
In pertinent part, LeBron’s Attorneys’ letter reads:
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,’
However, LeBron’s Lawyers explicitly noted that they would like to have a conversation before rushing into any formal legal proceedings in the same letter.
Generally, in order to prevail on a charge for infringement of a copyright or trademark, the plaintiff must prove some type of “actual confusion” between the products that could lead to the plaintiff losing money.
In other words, LeBron would have to prove that Alabama’s show is so similar to his show, that people are confusing Bama’s Shop Talk with LeBron’s The Shop, and he could lose money as a result.
In this case, a court would examine elements like the names of the shows, the shows’ premiere dates, and overall likelihood of confusion between the two shows.
In sum, LeBron is letting Alabama off easy here. But you guys can be the judge.
Flip the pages to see LeBron’s The Shop in comparison to Alabama’s Shop Talk.