Apparently SBS have gotten it into their heads that they ‘Own’ the phrase ‘the world game’ in relation to football.
So apparently nobody else can use the phrase ‘The World Game’ as a reference to football or the suits at SBS will set the lawyers (Dewey, Cheatham and Howe apparently) on them. Both Crikey and Channel 10 have been targeted recently and both have responded with a resounding ‘Fuck Off’, metaphorically speaking anyway.
The idea that a business, in this case a heavily government subsidised business, thinks that it can own a vernacular descriptive phrase is a joke.
If someone were to use those words as a brand, or try to represent themselves as being related to SBS’s highly respected ‘World Game’ brand, I could understand it, but this is just bullshit, overzealous lawyers making a buck and apparently incompetent management making fools of themselves.
SBS seem determined to burn through as much goodwill as possible before the 2010 World Cup, a vast cash cow that generate enormous viewing audiences and income for them.
SBS suits should remember that football is also known as ‘The People’s Game’ and this misguided attempt to lay claim to what is a universal turn of phrase is not going to go down well at all.
I’ve renamed one of the forum sections on this site ‘The World Game’, I await my letter with bated breath, I hope its two-ply, and properly absorbent.
Jubdal