With regards to the HoopsTV question raised by Ben Sherman, Mike
Pegram also says he has had photos taken from his site and used on HoopsTV.com.Â
Clint Jackson also maintains that HoopsTV has taken his photos and said the following when we asked him about it:
"I think that Hoops TV is the single most unprofessional basketball site on
the web, their tactics, sketchy practices, unprofessionalism and use of
profanity in articles is clueless and classless. I don't understand how
the executives at ESPN could support such an organization with a direct link
on their site and financial backing."
We also got cc'd on these comments from an attorney about this situation (the
letter was to Ben Sherman)::
Although a Duke fan and a regular DBR reader, I have to admit you've done a
great job with your site. Of course, the Hoops TV thievery you describe is
copyright infringement (17 USC Section 501). What few realize is that you
also describe CRIMINAL offenses of copying (section 506 (a)(1)) and
fraudulent removal of copyright notice (if your tag had a copyright notice in
it) (Section 506 (d)).
Removal of the tag almost automatically makes the a case where attorney fees
would be awarded (Section 505) and is certainly willful infringement which
raises the statutory damages available to $150,000.00 (Section 504 (b)(2)).