Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Blog Question #11

What does trademark law protect? Provide two sport examples.

A trademark is a distinctive name, symbol, or design that legally identifies a company and its products, or services, and prevents others from using identical or similar marks. The basic purpose of trademark law is to prevent consumer confusion such as a company not affiliated with nike using their swoosh to make more sales. Trademark law is designed to protect merchants reputation and goodwill in the consumer's mind and therefore able to prevent other users from using a similar mark that may cause confusion.

One example of trademark law would be another football team coming into the NFL and using a star as their logo. This symbol has already been used and trademarked by the Dallas Cowboys and another team using the same symbol would likely cause confusion. The Dallas Cowboys would be protected by this law and the other team would be forced to change their logo to something more distinctive.

Another example of trademark law would be a company using a swoosh to identify their products. Nike has already established that this is their logo and anything that is close to that on other products would confuse the consumers as to who is actually selling the product. Since the symbol is trademarked, the company would be forced to change their symbol to avoid confusion.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=6430091

This article is talking about how various Division I schools are distorting their figures to comply with Title IX. This federal legislation is designed to create equal educational opportunities for women and schools who are not in compliance will face serious consequences if the guidelines are not met. Schools were doing such things as counting women who were unqualified players as real players, counting people on the men's practice squad as women, and counting women as full time players who were no longer competing.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Blog Question #10

What is the Sport Broadcasting Act and how does it apply to the NFL?

The Sport Broadcasting Act of 1961 permits joint broadcasting agreements among the major professional sports. This allows the selling of package deals to television networks. The act also includes "blackout rules" which apply to teams playing at home who are having trouble with attendance. These rules "blackout" other competing game broadcasts to entice the local people further to either watch the local game being broadcast or attend the games in their area.

This act relates to the NFL because it was based off a court's ruling that the NFL's method of negotiating television broadcasting rights violated antitrust laws. The court ruled that giving a certain television network the exclusive rights to broadcast all NFL games was illegal. This act overrules this decision, as you can see from earlier, and allows the NFL, as well as other professional sports teams, to package their game to certain television networks. This is why you see NFL games only being broadcast on certain channels such as CBS, NBC, Fox, and recently ESPN. The NFL does strictly enforce the "blackout" rule also to ensure that stadiums are filled out and sold.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6384863

Mike Leake of the Cincinnati Reds was arrested on a shoplifting charge, accused of stealing 6 shirts from a department store worth a total of $59.88. Leake currently makes $425,000 in his second season in the majors and doesn't deny the charges. He apologized for the distraction, but it appears he actually tried to steal these shirts even though he makes well into the six figures. This charges carries a maximum of 180 days in jail which I'm sure he will not serve any of.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Blog Question #9

What is OSHA and its purpose? Please give an example of possible risks associated with working for an arena like the Frank Erwin Center.

OSHA stands for the Occupational Safety and Health Act which is the most common and arguably most important law providing for the safety of employees. This federal law, has a two fold purpose: to require employers to meet certain specific, federally mandated, safety standards and to impose a general duty on employers to keep their workplace safe.

Health hazards that employees might face in the work environment include sudden cardiac arrest, heat-related illness, carpal tunnel syndrome, heavy equipment related injuries, blunt trauma, chemicals, and blood-borne pathogens.

Possible risks associated with working for an arena like the Frank Erwin Center may include injuries from moving equipment and setting up, terrorist acts on facilities packed with a lot of people, injuries related to large crowds moving quickly at once, or injuries related to fatigue in the workplace.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=6329726

Ex-Kansas University official Thomas Blubaugh sentenced to 4 years in prison for his part in a 2 million dollar ticket scam conspiracy. He was also forced to pay back 1.1 million dollars in restitution to the University and the Internal Revenue Service. Blubaugh did not try and defend his actions, but said that he was embarrassed by his actions and sorry for his children.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Blog Question #8

Define and Discuss the two types of due process procedures used to enforce a rule or regulation.

Due process refers to the legal practices and procedures that must be followed in order to deprive somebody of his or her natural rights.

Procedural Due Process - refers to the steps that must be followed during a court case or similar procedure. Even when a person is being prosecuted for a crime, that person has rights that must be respected for a person to have a legal verdict brought against him or her. If a person is not given these rights, but is convicted, they can be set free in order to uphold the importance of these rights.

Substantive Due Process - refers to the ability of courts and other legislators to decide that a law violates the rights of the people. Meaning that if a law is passed that violates or deprives the rights of the people, then that law can be ruled unconstitutional and be shot down. This is enforced in order to maintain the rights of the people.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=6292476

Kansas City Chiefs player Mike Vrabel was arrested for theft Monday at a casino in Indiana. He was charged with a Class D felony which is the lowest level of felony charge in Indiana. He was seen by a gaming agent taking bottles of beer from a deli within the casino without paying for them. He describes the situation as one big misunderstanding and believes that once he talks to the proper authorities the situation will be resolved.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Blog Question #7

Discuss the three types of scrutiny and how they are applied to the 14th amendment.

1. Strict Scrutiny - courts that use strict scrutiny give the government no room for error in convincing them that the classification is necessary. Thus, making this the most strict degree of scrutiny. Once a court decides that strict scrutiny is the appropriate standard, then the court will uphold the state action only if it is necessary to achieve a compelling governmental interest.

2. Intermediate Scrutiny - available to courts to analyze state action that discriminates against people on the basis of gender, illegitimacy, and alienage. The government need only show that its actions were substantially related to its goal. The governments objectives need not to be compelling but the must be important.

3. Rational Basis - type of scrutiny that applies to all classifications not covered by strict or intermediate scrutiny. The courts are charged with ensuring that people are afforded equal protection under the law, so governmental decisions that classify and differently treat groups of people must be scrutinized. Only have to show a legitimate reason for the classification.

The 14th amendment of the Untied States says "no state shall make or enforce any law which shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." These are the different types of scrutiny that courts use to rule on Equal Protection Clause cases.

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/news/story?id=6267347

In this article, Dez Bryant of the Dallas Cowboys is being sued for 246,000 dollars worth of jewelry tab he has not paid to a New York based company. Bryant's attorney says they are making progress in solving the issue and the question only remains how much Bryant really needs to pay. Paying the bill shouldn't be a problem.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Blog Question #6

What is Risk Management Process (provide more than one word for each step - tell me what each step is in a sentence or two? Then walk me through a sport related example.

Risk Management Process: 3 steps

1. Recognition - involves thinking about both the general categories of hazards to address and the specific hazards within those categories. This recognition results in a decision by management to act on either a specific or identified risk category.

2. Analysis - Once the manager recognizes the need to address the risk, she should analyze specific or categories of risk. The analysis should consist of two parts which often overlap and work together: risk identification and risk evaluation.

3. Action - Once a risk has been recognized and analyzed, the manager must decide whether to act on the perceived risk and, if so, the type of action to take. There are four different types of actions that a manager can choose to take including retention, treatment, transfer, and avoidance.

Sports Related Example:

A sports facility with a baseball field has been repetitively getting reports from teams and players that the field is in bad shape. There are many mounds in the infield and holes in the outfield that are causing the games to be affected. There has also been an ankle sprain from a hole in the outfield and a ball that hit a player in the eye because of bouncing off a mound in the infield. Management recognizes that there is a risk for player safety with the shape that their field is currently in. The management team then goes out to the baseball field and looks for all holes and mounds that may be causing this type of injury. They then determine the potential liability these obstacles might have and evaluate the extent of the risk. The management team then decides that they are going to take action in the form of treatment such as smoothing out the mounds in the infield, or filling in the holes in the outfield.

Sports Related Article:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6243247

Three years after Barry Bonds was charged with lying to a grand jury over whether he knowingly used performance enhancing drugs, the perjury trial is to start with the selection of the jury. Many jurors were ruled out for various reasons including their allegiance to Barry and the San Francisco Giants. At this point, Barry Bonds has pleaded not guilty to the charges that he lied to the jury.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Blog Question #5

What is your opinion on Title IX?

"No Person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."

I think the idea behind the creation of Title IX has a very good purpose. There is no doubt that there should be equal opportunity for both sexes when it comes to participation in sports. If a boy, or a girl attends a college and wants to play a particular sport they should have just as much of a chance as anybody else. The problem I believe with the way they are going about creating these equal opportunities is they are taking away some of the male opportunities to accommodate the females. I understand why this is happening, because there is needed room in the budget, but I believe there could be a different way of going about it.

The male sports that are highly watched by the general population should have no chance of being taken away from schools. I know that it may seem unfair, but I honestly believe that the general population would rather watch a male baseball game than a girl's softball game. Likewise for all the other sports just because I think males are naturally more gifted to be able to play sports. Not that women are not good at sports, but if the best male and the best female go against each other at their respected sport, I believe the male is always going to have the edge. It is this reason that I think male sports are going to be watched more frequently than womens because people want to watch the best of the best. This can be seen in how many people watch the NBA and the WNBA.

I don't really know the best way to go about solving this problem, but I think a better way to go about it might be to open up more opportunities for club sports rather than creating sports through the schools budget. If these sports created for women are ultimately going to lose money for the school than maybe it would be a better idea to offer them through a club system. Same with the sports for males that aren't one of the big three (football, baseball, or basketball). These sports are what people want to watch and they want to watch the best play it so these are the sports and players that should represent the school. Maybe the rest of the sports should still have competition and compete against other people, but not by taking such a hit to the school's budget.

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=6167220

In this article, Iran is objecting to the logo for the 2012 London Olympics. They are claiming that the logo spells out the word "Zion" which is a biblical term that represents the city of Jerusalem. Iran is threatening to boycott the Games all together if the logo is not changed. The Olympic Committee is challenging the idea saying that logo only was meant to represent 2012, the year the Olympics are to take place. Basically, Muslim states believe this to be a racist logo and are threatening not to show up to the Games if the logo is not changed.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Blog Question #4

Beyond fiduciary duty, discuss the two primary duties that an agent has to his or her clients.

Duty of Loyalty:

The agent's primary duty is the duty of loyalty. This means that the agent must act solely and completely for the benefit of the principal. If an agent's interests become adverse to those of the principal, the agent must put the principal's interest first. This also means that the agent can't use their status as the principal's agent to enter them into agreements without telling the principal of the agreement first. Any information the agent gains about the principal while acting within the scope of employment can not be used for the agent's benefit with out first getting the principal to agree even after termination of the agency relationship.

Duty of Obedience:

The agent is under the duty of obedience to follow all reasonable instructions given by the principal. This means even if the principal gives instruction to the agent to do something that might harm only the principal's interest, the duty of obedience requires the agent to perform the task as ordered. The agent should inform the principal that the desired actions could be harmful, but will have to proceed with the actions anyway if the principal still wants to go with it. This can be potentially problematic for the agent as to some principals have short memories and may later blame the agent for the harmful actions so it is important to keep documentation of the principals communicated requests.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5920416

In this article, the head of the NFL players union held a conference to discuss the possibility of changing the certification process to become an agent as well as how agents are disciplined for violating rules. The meeting was held soon after a couple of agents had violated the NCAA rules for agent to player contact. These potential changes could effect the duties that an agent has to their principal and should be watched closely so that they can fall within the legal guidelines of agent to principal contact.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Blog Question #3

Please explain the concept of authority in agency law.

Agents are only allowed certain authorities when entering into a contractual agreement with their clients. This means that the agreement may only allow the agent to do certain things for his clients on his own that the client would then be forced into. If the agent does not have the authority to act on behalf of the client or exceeds the authority that he/she was given by the client, the client will not be bind to the actions done by the agent.

Please include in your discussion each distinct type of authority.

An agent acts with actual authority when the agent reasonably believes that his actions are within the scope of authority given to him/her by the client.

Authority given can even either be expressed or implied:

Expressed authority is any written or oral communication that grants the agent authority to perform an act.

Implied authority refers to incidental acts that the agent performs that are reasonably necessary to accomplish the agents express responsibilities as provided in the agency agreement.

In situations where it is unclear whether or not the agent has actual authority, the agent may have what is termed apparent authority.

Overall, when an agent acts without authority and apparent authority does not apply either, then the client is generally not legally bound by the agent's actions. If however, the client affirms the acts performed by the agent even though he/she did not have the authority to do in the first place, then those acts can be legally binding under the term known as ratification.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=6046507

In this article, Cam Newton decides to hire an agent for the upcoming NFL draft named Bus Cook. Newton decided to skip his senior season and enter the draft as a junior and needed proper representation to handle all the new deals and challenges that will be headed his way.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Blog Question #2

1. What are the elements to a valid contract?
  • There must be an offer
  • Another party has to accept the offer
  • There must be consideration to be legally enforceable
Even if there is a valid offer, it is accepted, and there is consideration, in order for the contract to be formed the underlying transaction must be legal. Courts will not enforce contracts that are based on an illegal promise or transaction.

2. How can those elements themselves be fulfilled?

An offer is a conditional promise to do or refrain from doing something in the future. The offeror must make an offer to the offeree and that offer must create a power of acceptance. This means that the party to whom the offer was made has the power to bind the offeror to the contract. The offer should include the parties and subject matter involved, the way in which the subject matter will be performed, and the consideration. The more detailed the offer the more legitimate it will be in court.

An acceptance must be made in some form of positive manner and must be communicated to the offeror. The offer may provide a way in which the acceptance must be communicated, but if not any reasonable method of communication will suffice.

Consideration is the exchange of value or benefit that each party agrees to give up as a result of the contractual agreement. It is what each party gets in return for the contractual performance. As long as each party is getting something in return for his or her performance, consideration is legitimate.

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/news/story?id=6071832

The Texas Rangers and catcher/first-basemen Mike Napoli agree to terms on a one-year deal for 5.8 million dollars. The rangers extended a contract offer that Mike Napoli agreed with. The consideration is Mike Napoli's service as a professional baseball player and his skills on the field for a paycheck provided by the Texas Rangers.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Blog Question #1

In as many dimensions as possible (ie. who makes them, their purpose, etc.) please answer in a couple of paragraphs the difference between a law and a regulation.

A law is a legal document setting forth rules governing a particular kind of activity. Laws are created to build a sense of order for societies and hold people accountable for their actions. Without laws, people would be free to act in anyway that they seem fit regardless of the implications it may have on individuals or society as a whole. Laws are created by the legislative branch of the government and must have both the President and Congress agree before it can be passed.

A regulation is a rule designed to control the conduct of those to whom it applies. Regulations are official rules and have to be followed. Much like laws, regulations are created with the purpose of building a sense of order for those involved. While laws are created by the government, a regulation may be created by anybody who wishes to standardize a way for which an activity should be done.

While both are created with the intent of being followed, breaking a law subjects a person to criminal punishment or civil liability. Regulations are designed merely to guide an activity, or in the case of a law, carry out the intent of a law.

Law Related Article: http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/news/story?id=6055248

Former USC running back Stafon Johnson is suing USC alleging negligence on behalf of his former strength coach following a weightlifting accident that threatened Johnson's life and football career. I find this article interesting because at first ESPN reported Johnson lost grip of the bar causing the bar to drop and land on his throat, but now Johnson's lawyer is saying the bar was knocked out of his hands. While I can't be certain because I was not their during the incident, I believe Johnson is just trying to get some kind of positive out of an incident that jeopardized his football career by blaming USC for the problem and making a lot of money in the process.