World Cup lawyers go Boing Boing
What have Baker & McKenzie LLP and King Canute got in common?
They both tried to turn back the tide. But contrary to popular belief King Canute tried to do so only to demonstrate that even a king's powers have limits. The lawyers at Baker & McKenzie think they can actually do it.
The lawyers at Baker & McKenzie have sent a warning letter to Boing Boing saying they will be watching the site for illegal use of any FIFA World Cup video clips.
Had the lawyers engaged brain before fees they would have realised that firstly Boing Boing would publish the letter and secondly that it would act like a red rag to a bull and encourage thousands of other sites to do exactly that. Or maybe not so stupid - even more fees in tracking all those sites down. Although it is a wonder that the lawyers at Baker & McKenzie have time to do any law in between sending naughty emails.
The serious side to this story is that no single profession should be arrogant enough to think they can be the primary adviser to a client. Lawyers need to work alongside public relations professional who need to work with accountants. Had the lawyers at Baker & McKenzie taken proper counsel they might not have been so stupid.
I don't read Boing Boing very often so thanks to Craig McGinty at Connected Media North West for the tip.
