Pitt is ridiculous to make an issue of this. A major university picking on a high school. The similiarity of the logos never even crossed my mind until I saw the attached article. Whitmer does a great job of supporting their football team and they have a great tradition and program.

They don't use that logo anymore, do they? :huh:

mtrulz wrote: They don't use that logo anymore, do they? :huh:

akron hammer wrote: Pitt is protecting a logo it "retired" 3 years ago. They replaced it with a newer cat and now don't use that one either. They use a PITT logo now.

Are you guys serious - Pitt is "picking on" a HS??? Do you think McDs, Coke, Gatorade, Chevy, Ford, Nike, NBC, etc lets people use their old logos/designs? What about pro sports teams and their old logos? How could they ever have a "throwback" game without protecting their old helmet logos?

The fact is they couldn't if they didn't keep the copyright on their on old logos. As soon as they let everyone start using it the logo becomes public domain.

It's about protecting their copyrights. Pitt doesn't have a beef with anyone. Whitmer is the guilty party here - what are they thinking investing time and money into uniforms, signage, game programs, etc using a logo that didn't belong to them?

Another question: will Whitmer copyright their new logo? Damn straight they will.

I knew it wouldnt take long before somebody came on here talking logo infringement.

High schools have taken from colleges for YEARS in colors, fight songs, logos, etc, and you know it. Besides that this is a dead issue.

I said this before on the old site when Wisconsin said something to Wapak.

Looking at the Ohio Helmet Project, I saw these logos of pro/college teams, and this was JUST THE FRONT PAGE

Florida Panthers-NHL
Toledo Rockets-NCAA
Purdue Boilmakers-NCAA
Philidelphia Eagles(2x-Different Logos)-NFL
Georgia/Green Bay(Not sure who has the trademark on the G if at all)-NCAA/NFL
Atlanta Falcons-NFL
UAB Blazers-NCAA
San Diego Chargers-NFL
Arizona Cardinals-NFL

Some of these aren't in use anymore,and I'm sure not all of them have Copyrights.

However my point is that it is petty to protect a copyright like this. There are 715 High Schools that play football in the State of Ohio alone. I really think that Professional Teams and Colleges have better things to do than check High Schools for Copyright infringement. It doesn't have that much of a benefit to do all of this. Like someone else said, how many Ohio Schools use OSU's fight song, or Michigan's? The first time I heard about this, Ball State I believe went after New Bremen.

If OSU was trying to use Oregon's O or something, then you might have a case, because that organization is making a substaintial amount of money on this. How much money did Whitmer make on using this logo? You can only use merchandise that had this logo on it.

I don't believe the respective Universities go out and check or look for infringements. It would take too much effort and time. However, when they are made aware of infringements if they don't enforce their copyright they can make no claim to it if someone else later decides to take it and use it.

If that future user of the copyright turns to a past precedent like the University being aware that High Schools everywhere were using their copyright and the University wasn't enforcing their copyright the court would have to rule in favor of the new entity using if for gain.

I guess my issue is that why don't we see more of this from other Universities/Professional Teams?

I've only heard of Ball State, Wisconsin, and now Pitt doing this