A federal judge's ruling yesterday in a lawsuit involving sports artist Daniel Moore confirms our suspicion that UA currently is run by a bunch of blockheads. Senior U.S. Judge Robert Propst found that Moore's paintings of classic moments in University of Alabama football history did not violate trademark law.
You can imagine the pleasure we took from learning that Daniel Moore had shown UA administrators that the First Amendment indeed exists in Alabama.
Moore almost certainly is the most beloved artistic figure in Alabama, renowned for his paintings of iconic moments in the history of Crimson Tide football. One can only imagine how many living rooms and dens across the state are adorned with Moore paintings that capture, in stunning realism, classic plays from major UA victories on the gridiron.
Moore probably has done more than any living human to portray the University of Alabama in a dynamic and positive light. So how did UA's leadership treat him? It decided four years ago to sue him, claiming that his paintings infringed on the university's trademark.
The case attracted the attention of The New York Times in 2006.
Propst yesterday ruled in Moore's favor, and in doing so, the judge showed how weak the university's case was all along.
UA contended that Moore's paintings violated trademark law because they included football uniforms with the university's distinctive crimson and white colors. We're not making this up, folks. The University of Alabama actually claimed that Moore's paintings--of a public event--violated trademark law because they included accurate depictions of football uniforms.
Is the University of Alabama just a little bit full of itself? Yes. Was the university's lawsuit against Daniel Moore full of elephant droppings from the outset? Yes. And Judge Propst, in so many words, said so yesterday.
According to the Tuscaloosa News, Propst rejected UA's argument that its football uniforms and color scheme are iconic enough to trump First Amendment rights in fine art:
"This court concludes that the depiction of the uniforms in the paintings is incidental to the purpose and expression of the paintings; that is, to artistically depict and preserve notable football plays in the history of University of Alabama football," Propst wrote in his memorandum opinion.
Propst even provided a brief history of sports uniforms. Wrote The Birmingham News:
Propst said in his opinion that crimson was first used by Harvard so spectators could distinguish Harvard's crew team from others in 1858.
Propst listed college teams such as Indiana, Kansas, Washington State, Oklahoma, and Utah who wear crimson in their uniforms.
"Cornell has been known as the 'Big Red' for many years," Propst wrote. Other college teams such as Arkansas, Arkansas State, and Rutgers wear a variation of red, Propst said.
"Not to mention the Kansas City Chiefs," he added.
The brilliant minds who run the University of Alabama spent well into the six figures to argue matters about uniform colors. Reasonable people, if any existed at UA, should have seen that they never had a case:
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