LeBron James’ media platform Uninterrupted has sent a letter to the University of Alabama athletic department calling a planned video series copyright and intellectual property infringement.
Alabama Football’s Twitter account released a trailer last week for a video series called “Shop Talk,” in which head coach Nick Saban and former Alabama football players Julio Jones, Eddie Jackson and Ryan Anderson (the latter of whom plays for the Washington Redskins) having a discussion while getting haircuts in a barbershop setting.
💈🗣Shop Talk Episode 1 coming soon! #RollTide#BamaCuts pic.twitter.com/QHC1dTjjzh
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) March 27, 2018
Uninterrupted claims the series “exploits” its own web series, “The Shop,” in which James and his friends have conversations in a similar setting.
.@KingJames doesn’t drive — unless he’s got a droptop and a Christmas Day game to get to. #TheShop pic.twitter.com/27n7Tq0WfZ
— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) March 6, 2018
ESPN obtained a copy of the letter, which does not immediately threaten a lawsuit or order a cease-and-desist.
“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,’” it reads in part.
James and his business partner, Maverick Carter, brought the platform and web series to the internet last year.
The setting for Alabama’s video is not staged just for the film shoot. The athletic department opened a barbershop called Bama Cuts in its athletic facility in February.
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