Last week, the Alabama football program released a new video series titled “Shop Talk,” featuring head coach Nick Saban in a barbershop inside of the team’s facility, the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility, holding court with key members of the program for some exclusive interviews.
In the first promo, former Alabama great turned Atlanta Falcons star Julio Jones makes an appearance.
It is a cool concept, but an all too familiar one. Especially if you are LeBron James.
According to a report from ESPN, LeBron James’ lawyers sent a letter to the University of Alabama over concerns of copyright infringement. James hosts a very similar show titled “The Shop” on his Uninterrupted platform.
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,'” the letter reads, via ESPN.
From the report:
“The Shop” was developed by James and “Uninterrupted” co-founder Maverick Carter. Its first episode, which premiered during the 2017 NBA Finals, generated approximately 4 million views across Uninterrupted.com and ESPN’s YouTube channel, according to a copy of the letter obtained by ESPN.
Here is a look at Alabama’s version of the show:
[vimeo 262299011 w=640 h=360]
And here is the original from LeBron:
.@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
It looks like LeBron has a pretty strong case.
