The New York Yankees Are Burning

No, the Yankees’ locker room did not catch on fire from an abundance of steroids. Rather , Curtis Publishing Co., owner of Norman Rockwell’s “Bottom of the 6th” painting, has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan seeking to stop ESPN from rebroadcasting The Bronx is Burning (a series about the 1977 New York Yankees) until ESPN withdraws the image from the film.

(Bottom of the 6th, by Norman Rockwell)

According to Curtis, ESPN “did not have a license to use the painting and was committing willful copyright infringement.” The eight-part film series has been sold in both DVD and VHS formats. Keep in mind that there is a difference between having title to the painting and owning the copyright to it. However, we’re sure no IP lawyer would have sued if Curtis simply had title. More from the AP here.