Football: Sunderland AFC Copyright Claim
By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw
The English Premier League club, Sunderland AFC, are facing possible legal proceedings from an artist who claims that the club has printed an image of one of his sculptures on its away shirt without his permission.
The artist concerned, Andrew Small, was commissioned by Sunderland City Council, in 2008, to create a sculpture, named 'C', to mark the end of the Sea-to-Sea cycle path.
Cyclists completing the Whitehaven to Sunderland route are greeted with a view of Roker Lighthouse through an aperture, carved into a six-and-a-half-tonne slab of black granite.
Small, is claiming a percentage of commercial sales of the shirt as damages for breach of his copyright, but the club has denied the claim.
The shirt features a repeating geometric pattern showing the Lighthouse, viewed through a circular design resembling the sculpture's aperture.
The club claims that the shirt was inspired by its away kit, which was worn between 1989 and 19191 when the club was at its previous ground, Roker Park, a short walk away from the Lighthouse.
On the other hand, Small claims that the pattern was directly inspired by his sculpture, in which he retained copyright, and this means that any reproduction of it, for commercial purposes, requires his consent.
However, the club claims that there is no copyright in ideas and concepts.
Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw may be contacted by e-mail at ‘
