Dispute Centers on TBS/Major League Baseball Commercial
Bart Steele, a songwriter living in Chelsea, MA, has filed an appeal in his lawsuit against Turner Broadcasting, Major League Baseball, The Boston Red Sox, the rock band Bon Jovi, and other defendants. The case is Steele v. Turner Broadcasting et al, case #08-11727, and is pending in federal court in Boston. Steele argues that his song and an MLB/TBS commercial, which he believes was created using his work as a “temp track,” are similar enough to support his claim that the commercial infringes upon his copyright.
“Basically, the District Court believed the defendants’ argument that this was all a bunch of coincidences,” Steele says. “But it wasn’t. It was copyright infringement, pure and simple. In 2004, I wrote my Boston Red Sox-based country baseball anthem entitled ‘Man I Really Love This Team.’
“I emailed my song and also mailed the song with lyric sheets to the Red Sox and Major League Baseball several times, including in October 2004, June 2005, and June 2006. I also told them I had another version called ‘Man I Really Love This Town’ that could be used for any team in any town. To this day, neither the Red Sox nor Major League Baseball has denied receiving my letters, song, and lyric sheets. I never heard back from them.
“Three years later, MLB’s “I Love This Town” commercial aired on TBS, with Bon Jovi providing the audio. And I started getting phone calls asking me when I had sold my song. The answer was – and is – never.
“I was never asked for permission to use my work, much less paid or even given credit for it. Defendants admit, in Court documents, receiving my song in October 2004. Defendants have not denied receiving my letters informing them I had created a derivative work, which replaced “team” with “town.”
“Defendants admit “access,” which is a big part of any copyright claim. It is hard to believe TBS and MLB when they say their commercial.
