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LeBron James' digital media company sends copyright letter to Alabama football

sam cooper
College football writer
LeBron James looks on during the game against the San Antonio Spurs on February 25, 2018 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. (Getty Images)
LeBron James looks on during the game against the San Antonio Spurs on February 25, 2018 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. (Getty Images)

Last week, the Alabama football program debuted a new web series called “Shop Talk” featuring former Tide players and head coach Nick Saban discussing a variety of topics in a barbershop setting.

It closely resembled a show called “The Shop” that Uninterrupted, the digital media company founded by LeBron James, launched last year. The folks at Uninterrupted certainly noticed. According to ESPN, a letter was sent from Uninterrupted to Alabama that addressed “concerns over copyright infringement and intellectual property appropriation.”

Those concerns certainly have merit.

Here’s a clip from Alabama’s “Shop Talk,” featuring Saban, Julio Jones, Eddie Jackson and Ryan Anderson in the Tide’s newly opened barbershop:

And here’s a look at “The Shop” with James and some of his business partners, including Uninterrupted co-founder Maverick Carter:

The similarities are obvious, but that doesn’t mean Uninterrupted wants to immediately pursue legal action.

From ESPN:

“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,'” the letter reads, in part.

The letter goes on to invite a conversation with Alabama before “rushing into legal proceedings.”

The first episode of “The Shop” debuted in June 2017 and featured Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, rapper 2 Chainz and a host of others. Since then, a second episode was also released. Per ESPN, a third episode has already been filmed.

Alabama’s “Shop Talk” premiered last Thursday. Here’s the full first episode:

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By the looks of this situation, there may not be a second.

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Sam Cooper is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!

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