<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Get The Picture]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://blutarsky.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[Senator Blutarsky]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://blutarsky.wordpress.com/author/blutarsky/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[&#8220;So all this talk about loopholes, there&#8217;s not a lot of ground for&nbsp;that.&#8221;]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>Not too surprisingly, <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130226/johnny-manziel-ncaa-loophole/?xid=si_ncaaf" target="_blank">the NCAA has shut down what&#8217;s been called the Manziel loophole</a> by telling Texas A &amp; M it would consider an intentional copyright violation for the purposes of funneling money to a player to be a violation.</p>
<p>You can be skeptical about how much effect that would have on a booster and a student-athlete testing the system.  However, I think this is the part that makes such a scheme more unlikely to succeed:</p>
<blockquote><p>Hinckley said the Johnny Football phenomenon has been a learning experience on the business and legal side. He calls the situation a &#8220;three-headed monster&#8221; involving Manziel&#8217;s likeness, his intellectual property rights and the intellectual property rights of Texas A&amp;M. Hinckley said about 20 percent of the unlicensed Johnny Football merchandise he&#8217;s seen has also infringed upon Texas A&amp;M&#8217;s marks. Texas A&amp;M is not allowed to market merchandise bearing Manziel&#8217;s name or nickname. It is allowed to sell his No. 2 jersey with no name attached. Still, even if Texas A&amp;M&#8217;s marks are not used by a Johnny Football merchandise seller, Hinckley said any use of the school colors (maroon and white) could be considered a violation of the school&#8217;s intellectual property rights based on the <a href="http://www.athleticbusiness.com/articles/article.aspx?articleid=2036&amp;zoneid=30" target="_blank">2009 ruling in favor of LSU</a> against Florida-based T-shirt maker Smack Apparel.</p></blockquote>
<p>It&#8217;s hard to see how a school would be willing to take part in such an arrangement, because in addition to risking the wrath of the NCAA if it&#8217;s caught, it&#8217;s also risking its own intellectual property rights by tolerating that.  There simply isn&#8217;t enough money in t-shirts to make that worthwhile.  Particularly when the money isn&#8217;t even flowing to the school for its trouble.</p>
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