Cease And Desist, Baby! Vitale's Management Asks Website To Take Cartoon Down

PM Sports, a newish site which markets itself as a site for "sports-centric comedic videos that blur the lines between wrong and wrong," posted the above cartoon in February. It's a fairly whimsical premise: the impolitic Vitale, bored without March Madness games, causing a ruckus at a funeral.

Dickie V's people didn't think so—a few weeks later, PM Sports received this letter from IMG.

They wrote,

It was brought to our attention that your company is using Dick Vitale's name, image, and/or likeness as on your website referenced above without his consent. Accordingly, we need you to remove his name, image and likeness from your website at this time.

At first blush, IMG would seem to have a compelling point—Dickie V is a cartoon humanoid. But we know how discerning he, and other ESPN-folk, can be about endorsements.

You can't just slap Vitale's endorsement on an internet cartoon. That ruins all the leverage IMG has with Hooters!

Here's the letter in full (click to embiggen):

Dick Vitale At A Funeral [PM Sports]