MLB cease and desist

The Major League Baseball association is seeking action against a free iPhone application called Baseball (opens in iTunes), regarding its use of MLB team logos throughout the app. PC World reveals the app contains thousands of team and player statistics, reaching back to 1888, all the way until the current baseball season. On Monday, Mark Knopper – owner and proprietor of Bulbous Ventures – was instructed by email to remove all logos related to Major League Baseball, and associated teams.

Knopper says he will obey the order, but is saddened that his "labor of love" must undergo such changes, especially since it brought him no income, and was constructed out of sheer amusement. He admits he does not know what to use to replace the logos, but will either blur them out, or replace them with alternative images.

The move is just the latest in a long line of Major League Baseball threats, with the conglomerate blocking sales of Orioles-spoofing Obama shirts, and suing online fantasy baseball businesses in 2005. CBC Distribution and Marketing of CDM Fantasy Sports won a 2006 case against MLB, after the latter had deemed player names and statistics to be copyrighted material. MLB's appeal of the decision was thrown out of court, with the US Supreme court denying its petition.

by MacNN Staff