Blizzard allowed the two channels to broadcast Korea e-Sports Players Association (KeSPA) tournaments until August, but the channels have continued to broadcast tournaments into the fall season.
The channels argue that they should be able to broadcast Starcraft tournaments because the games used in the professional tournaments are in the public domain while Blizzard argues that its intellectual property is being violated. The channels argue that to require them to obtain the appropriate permission to broadcast the tournaments would equate to requiring soccer players to pay to use Adidas balls.
In terms of protecting its intellectual property Blizzard seems to have a firm foundation. Each successive broadcast displays a multitude of Starcraft copyrighted material. The channels' argument equating Starcraft as a mere tool in comparison to people kicking around a soccer ball with the Adidas trademark seems misplaced. Although the sports comparison is interesting, there is usually no IP issue when a channel broadcasts a soccer game using an Adidas soccer ball, unless the broadcasters were to say malign the Adidas trademark.
Starcraft Tournament Broadcast
