English Premier League club gives Croatian club ultimatum over crest
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
(Wikipedia/Fair Use/NK Jadran-Gaaleb/Facebook)
A small Croatian football club is facing a peculiar challenge after its crest attracted attention from an English Premier League club, sparking an unexpected copyright dispute.
Football club NK Jadran-Galeb, who sit at the top of the third division of the Koprivnica-Križevci County leagues in Croatia, may lose its club crest.
English Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion have sent a multi-page letter to the club requesting clarification regarding copyright and issuing a warning that the logo must be removed, ePodravina reported.
The crests of both clubs (Wikipedia/Fair Use/NK Jadran-Gaaleb/Facebook)
The crest has now been removed from the Croatian Football Federation website.
“There was a certain, let’s say, threat, but in the end, the letter stated they were asking us to change the crest and wouldn’t pursue any legal action.
Legally, there was no reason not to comply. It seems they’ve only just noticed it and decided to respond to a logo that is clearly copied,” Josip Mađarić, a lawyer who facilitated the removal of the crest from the county and Croatian Football Federation websites, told ePodravina.
The English club was founded in 1901, while the Podravina club emerged in 2001 from the merger of two local lower-league teams.
At the time of its founding, the club adopted Brighton’s crest, coinciding with Brighton’s promotion to the third tier of English football.
Brighton is now enjoying its eighth consecutive season in the Premier League. However, the story doesn’t end there.
Reportedly, Brighton became aware of NK Jadran-Galeb after a member of the Podravina club visited Brighton’s headquarters and, ironically, sought a donation.
Instead, they received a lawsuit in return. The leadership of NK Jadran-Galeb has been unavailable for comment, and the crest still remains visible on their Facebook page.
