⛹️‍♀️ The legal questions at the heart of March Madness

Your bracket may be shot right now, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a fun discussion about law and the NCAA Tournament. 

• The NCAA is very serious about its copyrights for March Madness: Last month in a mind-boggling complaint, it went after a urology practice in Virginia for infringement. The practice had used the phrase “Vasectomy Mayhem” in ads telling men to get the surgery done so they could relax and watch basketball.    

• Hardly anyone gets away with using the NCAA’s trademarks: Even the women’s tournament. Although the copyright for March Madness extends to women’s basketball, the NCAA has denied requests from women’s tournament officials to use March Madness branding, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The slights to the women’s tournament didn’t end there

You may have seen a viral video showing female basketball players got a single rack of weights at their bubble while the men got a full weight room. Could this have been a Title IX violation? 

• Believe it or not, the NCAA does not actually have to comply with Title IX, based on a court ruling from a couple decades ago. The organization says it tries to abide by the legislation but evidently wasn’t trying very hard at the NCAA Tournament. 

The Verdict

At least the basketball has been exciting!