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Media & Entertainment Law

: Sports Law Blog

Gabibbo Talks Its Way to Victory over Big Red

By Rick Karcher, Michael McCann, Geoffrey Rapp, Greg Skidmore, and Howard Wasserman

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Back in February 2004, Greg wrote about Western Kentucky University suing Mediaset, the television company run by Silvio Berlusconi, the richest man in Italy and the country's then Prime Minister, for trademark and copyright infringement, claiming that Gabibbo, the mascot for the satirical show "Striscia la Notizia" is a carbon copy of Big Red, the Western Kentucky mascot since 1979. The suit sought $250 million in damages.

Over on his excellent blog, Sports Biz, CNBC's Darren Rovell writes about Western Kentucky losing in an Italian court, in large part (apparently) because Gabibbo talks and Big Red doesn't.

Here is an excerpt from Darren's piece:

As many of you know, the legal standards vary depending on where you are, but in Italy -- at least according to a Italian judge's ruling earlier this month -- Gabibbo is similar to Big Red, but he is not Big Red. That means that Mediaset owes nothing to the Western Kentucky, ADFRA or Crossland.
I haven't had the 90-plus page ruling translated yet, but the summary I got from the plaintiffs was that the main difference is that Gabibbo talks and Big Red doesn't.
I can't let this go without saying that there's politics behind every story. Mediaset is owned by Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's richest man, former prime minister and, as sports fans have come to know him, president of A.C. Milan. Despite what they are up against, sources tell CNBC that WKU, ADFRA and Crossland Enterprises will file an appeal by Jan. 20.

For the rest of the post, click here.

Full post as published by Sports Law Blog on December 31, 2007 (boomark / email).