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Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James has a problem with Alabama football's use of the term "Shop Talk" and has sent a letter to the university regarding possible copyright infringement, ESPN reported Monday. The issue arose last week when the official Twitter account for Alabama football released a trailer for "Shop Talk." It featured a discussion in a barbershop involving former Alabama star Julio Jones along with Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban and other football players.
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The Alabama account noted that Episode 1 is coming soon.
James sees that as a problem, because two episodes of a web series titled "The Shop" already have been released on his multimedia platform UNINTERRUPTED. A third installment is to be released soon, and it features James along with his friends, business associates and other famous people having a discussion while getting haircuts.
As a result, UNINTERRUPTED sent a letter to Alabama concerning possible copyright infringement and intellectual property appropriation.
UNINTERRUPTED's first episode was released during the 2017 NBA Finals. It received approximately 4 million views across UNINTERRUPTED.com and ESPN's YouTube channel, according to a copy of the letter obtained by ESPN.
UNINTERRUPTED's letter to Alabama, stated, in part, "Your continued exploitation of 'Shop Talk' infringes 'UNINTERRUPTED's' copyright, trademark rights and other valuable intellectual property rights in 'The Shop' and significantly damages 'UNINTERRUPTED's' commercial prospects for 'The Shop.'"
No legal action was threatened in the letter, which suggested the parties discuss the issue before "rushing into legal proceedings."
Alabama opened a barbershop in the football team's Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility in February.
