The Los Angeles NBA team has issues with Peterborough’s lacrosse team using the same name
The Peterborough Lakers lacrosse team received some very disturbing news this past week. They may no longer be legally allowed to use the team name “Lakers.”
This comes on top of the decision from the City of Peterborough that will prevent them from using the Memorial Centre next season when the city replaces the floor and boards.
According to a letter the team received from a law firm in Los Angeles, the L.A. Lakers of the National Basketball Association is denying teams the right to use the name “Lakers.” The basketball Lakers copyrighted the name in 1960 when the team moved the franchise from Minneapolis to L.A.
With the recent concern over team names, especially those that refer to Indigenous groups, pro teams decided to start controlling what teams are allowed to use their name.
Obviously, there is nothing contentious about the name “Lakers,” but with all the legal battles going on with the Cleveland Indians baseball team and the Washington Redskins football team, teams are starting to protect their copyrighted names. That is especially in light of the pending demise of the NAFTA trade agreement that includes copyright clauses.
Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan calls all their sports teams “Lakers.”
They were the first team to be notified by the Los Angeles team about their restrictive naming policy. The university immediately went after a court order to challenge the ruling.
Earlier this fall the superior court of Michigan ruled in the university's favour. The court said that since the university teams were called the Lakers since 1946, long before the L.A. team copyrighted the name, they have the legal right to continue using the name.
The ruling went on to say that if the Minneapolis Lakers, the original Lakers team before they moved the team to Los Angeles in 1960, had copyrighted the name, the ruling would have been different.
The reasoning behind the judgment, though, is what the Peterborough Lakers are concerned about because they were formed in 1967.
Even though it came out of a United States court, because of NAFTA all American copyright rulings apply to Canada.
Obviously, there are many more teams in a variety of sports across North America that uses the name “Lakers.” The law firm stated that the Los Angeles team is only going after teams that charge admission, market their sweaters and logo and have a media presence.
The fact that the Peterborough Lakers won the Canadian championship last season is working against them with this issue. American teams in the National Lacrosse League are featuring their players that played on last season’s Lakers Mann Cup team in their media releases.
The local Lakers management have turned the letter over to their lawyers and when contacted were not commenting.
A local lawyer, not involved with the team, feels the team should win a court battle. He added that fighting such a ruling within the American justice system will be very expensive. Cases like this can drag on and build up legal expenses.
He added to just ignore the letter would be unwise. The Los Angeles team could get a court order and come in and confiscate all sweaters and merchandise with the Peterborough Lakers' logo on it. This ruling also affects the minor and junior Lakers teams.
On the other hand, the ruling will not likely be enforced for the upcoming season and with the possibility the Peterborough Lakers will need to disband for the 2019 season because of the construction in the Memorial Centre this situation could be resolved by then.
The Lakers are holding a press conference, tomorrow, April 1, April Fool’s Day, to give their position.