Recruit Tyriq Thompson starring in HAIL The Movie (more recruiting craziness)

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

Saw this roll across my twitter feed from Tyriq Thompson's twitter via a Malzone retweet.

This one just deserves a thread. I really don't know what my first thoughts were when I saw this.

More importantly--where is the role of his cat? Recruiting, man.

 

Wolverine Devotee

May 21st, 2014 at 9:05 PM ^

Recruiting is so crazy now. At what point do we see the return of this beast-

In CGI fighter jet form with XYZ recruit as the pilot blowing up rival school's planes in a Top Gun dogfight with Danger Zone playing in the background?

Wolverine Devotee

May 21st, 2014 at 9:29 PM ^

Considering I'm a class of 2014 HS graduate, I think some may get it

Then again, I'm not from a little place people call Earth.

Space Coyote

May 22nd, 2014 at 8:06 AM ^

But is this really copyright infringment? Does there not need to be some direct financial benefit? The first thing I always think of is daycare centers using Disney characters without permission, but that's in a very public setting and used so 1) they don't have to pay for the real thing and 2) they are using Disney's image to enhance their own. I guess I don't see those things happening here, especially in the ESPN the mag case. 

I feel like all these things fall under some of the limitations of Copyright infringement, and I don't see how any of the things that Michigan is "spoofing" (not the right word, but roll with it) are negatively affected from this. Therefore, I don't really see how there is any issue with copyright here. But again, I have about next to nothing in terms of law knowledge.

Don

May 22nd, 2014 at 11:03 AM ^

I'm not remotely close to being an expert in this stuff, but I'm not sure that an official "non-profit" status would be legal justification.

And if I was an attorney for the company that created the original art, I'd argue that the Michigan athletic department does financially gain from recruiting top-notch players to its football team.

And U-M is hardly in the position of justifying such use. A couple of years ago I wanted to get a t-shirt printed with a simple design I'd created that used a facsimile of the block M—not the actual block M, just close enough to serve my purposes. I contacted Underground Printing, and made it clear that I wasn't selling anything, that I just wanted one made as a gag gift to a friend. Underground refused to print the shirt because of U-M's requirements about using the block M were so stringent. I had it printed at another company that didn't do much U-M related business.

InterM

May 23rd, 2014 at 1:03 PM ^

Profit (or lack thereof) is only one of the factors considered in a "fair use" defense, and I don't think Michigan's athletic department would fare very well on the remaining factors.  Anyway, as Don points out, the football program does "benefit" in a sense that would probably count against it under copyright law.  In your hypothetical, little Coyote Jr.'s day care could be sued, but I'm guessing Disney will typically figure it's not worth the expense.  As has been discussed around here recently, the AD's pockets are a bit deeper.

Genzilla

May 21st, 2014 at 10:04 PM ^

I'm sure there's a sweatshop of graphic design majors slaving away in the Schembechler basement, cranking these out for their "internship"

marco dane

May 22nd, 2014 at 12:01 AM ^

Ever evolving tatics being empolyed today,just because you've got to stay in touch with todays youth and what other schools are doing....like it or not.

MichiganMan14

May 22nd, 2014 at 6:29 AM ^

Like it or not...this is Michigan getting on board with the times. It's not what we are used to but it is what schools are doing and what we need to do to stay up with the ever - changing and wild world of recruiting.

MGoBender

May 23rd, 2014 at 12:17 PM ^

I have several issues.

First, I think it's tacky and impersonable.  Impersonable I say?  Yes.  What's cooler - a letter from Coach Hoke or your head 'shopped onto an image (that was blatantly stolen)?  Before you say "GET WITH THE TIMES THE KIDS LOVE THIS": I work with high school seniors for a living.  For the most part, they are not impressed by bad photoshop.  And bad photoshop is old and not with the times anyway. 

You want to "get with the times" and not be tacky?  Have a coach send you a Vine or Instagram that quickly cuts from your future dorm to a locker to angel hall to the field in the Big House and end it with "all that's missing is you."  That's fucking awesome.

Related: The glorification of these players bothers me.  Yeah, you are fighting over them with other teams.  But, isn't it "THE TEAM, THE TEAM, THE TEAM."  Shouldn't we be selling our program, our university and not slurping recruits?  What are we setting these guys up for when they get to campus expecting to be hot shit and end up riding pine for three years?  I worry about integrity of the team being compromised.

Second, the sheer size of recruiting is bothersome.  Dave Brandon would have us believe that ticket prices need to go up to stay competitive.  Yet the surplus we bring in is huge.  We have 53 (!!!) staff members for the football team alone.  FIFTY-THREE.  For the football team, not the entire athletic department.  At what point do we say "wait a minute, here"?  Presumably, there's someone who's job it is to 'shop this crap together.  That's bothersome.  Even if its an unpaid intern, couldn't those man-hours be used for better purposes?