As the 2016 Summer Olympics quickly approaches, media have reported that the United States Olympic Committee has informed businesses that are not official sponsors of the games, that they cannot reference any Olympic results, share or re-tweet anything from the official Olympic account, or use official hashtags including #Rio2016 and #TeamUSA.
Shubha Ghosh
Shubha Ghosh, Crandall Melvin Professor of Law and Director of the Technology Commercialization Law Program at Syracuse University College of Law, offers insight on these copyright rules.
“Brands associated with the Olympics games are closely guarded by the Olympics Committee. Limits against personal use of Olympics brands for noncommercial purposes would be, in general, protected by the First Amendment. Commercial uses are another matter with the law siding in favor of brand owners over commercial speakers,” said Ghosh.
Media interested in talking to Professor Ghosh should contact Robert Conrad, Director of Communications and Media Relations, at 315.443.9536 or rtconrad@law.syr.edu
