Kos has no plans to sign the Merchandising agreement

by lbk on Dec 8, 2008 11:23 AM EST Comment 23 comments

Found this over at 5ozof pain Report: Koscheck has no plans to sign licensing agreement

December 6, 2008 by Sam Caplan

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During this week’s edition of ESPN.com’s MMA Live, Franklin McNeil of the NewarK Star-Ledger stated that UFC welterweight Josh Koscheck has not signed the infamous merchandising and licensing agreement that was one of the contributing factors for Jon Fitch’s brief release from the UFC last month.

Koscheck is a teammate of Fitch’s at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose and is also represented by the same management company, Zinkin Entertainment. The former NCAA wrestling standout is set to face Yoshiyuki Yoshida at “UFC Fight Night 16: UFC Fight for the Troops” on Dec. 10 in Fayatteville, North Carolina.

McNeil expressed uncertainty as to whether Koscheck will continue fighting for the UFC following the bout’s conclusion.

“If he loses - and even if he wins - this may the last fight he has in the UFC,” said McNeil. “As far as I know, he hasn’t signed the licensing agreement and has no intention of signing it.”

At the time of Fitch’s release, UFC President Dana White denied reports that he was released for his refusal to sign a contract with the UFC that would grant the company lifetime rights to his likeness for the purpose of future video game releases. Instead, White indicated the release was the result of strained relations with Fitch’s camp.

“(The release) doesn’t have to do with Jon Fitch either,” White said during a Nov. 19 interview on “The Carmichael Dave Show” on KHTK radio in Sacramento. “I like Jon Fitch. I’ve never had a bad word with Jon Fitch. The problem is with the idiots that run AKA. I won’t use any names; the idiots know who they are.”

During an exclusive interview with CBSSports.com last month, Koscheck refused to respond to questions pertaining to the controversy between his camp and the UFC.

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.

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Is there any reason why people post articles from other sites here when the exact same news and topics have either a) also been posted here, b) have been discussed heavily here or c) both?

by Luke Thomas on Dec 8, 2008 11:55 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Isn’t this sort of thing disallowed? It’s the article in its entirety, without additional commentary and no link to the original article. Not to be a dick, but I’m pretty sure that legally we can only excerpt and link, not rip a whole article..

by Blackout612 on Dec 8, 2008 12:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

There’s nothing “illegal” about it. He starts the article by saying he got it from FiveOunces and even drops Sam Caplan’s name as the writer. Even if he did copy and paste without citing the source, it would only become a problem if somebody decided to take legal action. What damages did Sam Caplan and FiveOunces suffer from a guy on a message board bringing up their article? None.

by dropkick101 on Dec 8, 2008 1:22 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Setting aside the legality, this kind of thing is not what the FanPosts are for. If you just want to link to a story, link to it as a FanShot.

Intentional Blog on Balls

by Richard Wade on Dec 8, 2008 1:56 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

never intended for this to be a big deal. Was just posting what I thought was some new info on the merchandising issue.

Please take it down if it’s that big of a deal.

by lbk on Dec 8, 2008 2:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

It’s all good man.. Just excerpt it and add some of your own thoughts.

by Blackout612 on Dec 8, 2008 3:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yes there is

This is intellectual property. You can’t re-paste the whole thing, there are laws involved.

by Blackout612 on Dec 8, 2008 3:36 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

He cited it. He specifically wrote “Found this over at 5oz” and then put “by Sam Caplan” at the top. Whether or not he is displaying the entire article or just a sentence is irrelevant as long as he is giving credit where credit is due. If he was profiting from using those words and did so without permission, it might be a different story. As of right now, nothing illegal about it.

by dropkick101 on Dec 8, 2008 4:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Sigh.. Yes there is

The site can be construed as indirectly profiting from it. No one is saying BE would have to cut a check and obviously no one thinks that Ibk is profiting from it. It’s a matter of maintaining the integrity of intellectual property as a rule and honoring basic rules of honesty. Why are you even arguing this? You can’t strip intellectual property. Photos, articles, music, video. Everything has an associated usage right. That’s basic stuff.. These guys have a good relationship with Caplan and quote him on a semi-regular basis. I promise you that he does not enjoy his work being shown in its entirety elsewhere. You excerpt and link to the source material. Just because you can’t see what’s wrong with it doesn’t mean you’ve been given the right to make the rules up as you see fit.

by Blackout612 on Dec 8, 2008 4:53 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

http://weblogs.about.com/od/bloggingethics/qt/CopyrightFairUs.htm
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/blogs_and_fair_use_doctrine/

I did a quick search to find out the real legalities of blogging in terms of citing, copyright, and the fair use doctrine as I was pretty interested to find out what was what. Turns out that a situation like this would most likely be passed off as legal due to the cite but it would be questionable under fair use nonetheless. Basically, while the legality is a gray area, it’s best to excerpt and link from a legal precautionary sense as well as simply from a moral view. A situation seen here could arguably fall under the fair use doctrine in terms of legality but is definitely a big no-no in terms of blog etiquette.

To sum up my drawn out explanation, you’re pretty much right. The legality of the blogosphere hasn’t been fully fleshed out in the courts yet so it’s best to link to be on the safe side. My bad.

by dropkick101 on Dec 8, 2008 7:58 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Well thanks

’ve written at a few blogs and sites, and have been witness to an escalating situation with very similar circumstances.

by Blackout612 on Dec 8, 2008 9:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, didn’t realize its the entire thing. I’ll fix it.

by Luke Thomas on Dec 8, 2008 2:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Right on

Just looking out; I’ve seen people get into some minor issues over this sort of thing..

by Blackout612 on Dec 8, 2008 3:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Had not seen that bit of news on here as it specifically relates to Koscheck.

My apologies.

by lbk on Dec 8, 2008 11:58 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

No worries. I’m not trying to stifle use of the FanPosts. Far from it. But this has been happening a lot lately with a lot of readers and it baffles the shit out of me.

by Luke Thomas on Dec 8, 2008 12:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe because of higher traffic and not everyone checks before they post something.

by Discman2 on Dec 8, 2008 12:59 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Dumb move by Koscheck. His style doesn’t lend itself to free agency very well. I like him as a fighter, but if this was dumb for Jon Fitch, it’s super dumb for Josh.

by subo on Dec 8, 2008 2:16 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

There’s no serious market for a 170 division outside of the UFC. And competitively, it’s even more bleak. I’m also fairly confident he has no desire to fight in Japan full time, based on comments in past interviews.

by Blackout612 on Dec 8, 2008 3:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If he loses to Yoshida and then pulls this, I think it may be the end of the UFC and Kos.

Eliot Marshall: Bader won. Like I said in the episode, I'm not going to make any excuses. It's my job to be able to deal with when somebody's doing that. It's not his job to change up his tactics.

http://eliotmarshall.com/

by BJJDenver on Dec 8, 2008 4:09 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Am I the only one rooting for Yoshida? I don’t mind Kos, it has nothing to do with that..

by Blackout612 on Dec 8, 2008 4:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Nope. I’m rooting for Yoshida, too. Not against Kos, but for Yoshida.

Bolts from the Blue

by Richard Wade on Dec 8, 2008 4:48 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Same with me. Nothing against Kos, but pulling for Yoshida.

Eliot Marshall: Bader won. Like I said in the episode, I'm not going to make any excuses. It's my job to be able to deal with when somebody's doing that. It's not his job to change up his tactics.