Chris | InformationLiberation
Intellectual property laws frequently make people do stupid things. Case in point, Tim Tebow apparently threatened a lawsuit against the seller of a "MY Jesus" T-shirt because they claim the site is using his likeness. That the site specifically says they've got nothing to do with Tim Tebow nor the NY Jetts is apparently of no consequence to his idiot lawyers, they're just hoping their threats and intimidation get the T-Shirt maker to submit to their will -- as Jesus would have. Fortunately the T-shirt maker, CubbyTees, is not submitting to Tim Tebow and his lawyer's thuggery.
Via TMZ:
TMZ obtained the cease and desist letter Tebow's attorneys sent to cubbytees.com last month -- in which they claim "The Merchandise makes it appear as if Mr. Tebow actually endorses Cubby Tees and its products."It's amazing how bad laws can turn otherwise seemingly friendly people into piranhas. I'm sure Mr. Tebow thinks he was somehow wronged by this T-shirt maker using his "likeness," in reality all that happened was someone printed a T-shirt promoting him at no cost to himself.Interestingly, the tee shirts in question do not use Tebow's image or name -- but instead spell out "MY Jesus" using the colors and font of his new team ... the NY Jets. In fact, the website clearly states, "This fun design is not officially endorsed by New York's backup quarterback or the Son of God, but plays off the themes of Tebow's faith and his new team."
Still, Tebow's attorneys are demanding the site stop "any use of Mr. Tebow's name and/or likeness" -- and according to Cubby Tees, Tebow already successfully petitioned eBay to remove the tees.
The shirt makers tell TMZ they aren't backing down, and actually sent a response to team Tebow ... saying the design "shares nothing with Mr. Tebow except for promotion of a common Lord and Savior." The shirts are still for sale.
Nonetheless, thinking in line with the idiocy of IP laws, he thinks in order to "right" this "wrong," he must threaten to haul the person into court and use the state to shake the person down for everything they've got.
All these wrongheaded IP laws should be repealed, from likeness to slander to reputation rights, etc. They're all nonsense, and they're serving to turn even Jesus lovers like Mr. Tebow into devils.
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I have great respect for Mr. Tebow, but this lawsuit is just plain silly (and I have a feeling that it's his lawyers, not Tebow himself, who are behind this). This is clearly a Christian parody shirt, which is perfectly legal and the likes of which can be found in virtually any Christian bookstore. CORRECTION: What I meant to say in the first sentence was, "...but this threat of a lawsuit is just plain silly".
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