Heath Shaffer sends along this article from Roto Times. To sum up the story the best I can:

MLB Advanced Media (part of MLB.com) has gained exclusive rights from the MLBPA "to fantasy games using Major League Baseball players for the next five years." Fantasy operators figured they could get a sub-license from MLBAM, but the price has been set very high. MLBAM appears to be trying to drive out large competitors and prevent mom and pop operations from ever getting large.

Okay, so run the games without the logos and so forth. MLBAM believes the demand for its sub-licenses is going to be great. Don't buy them, and the price will drop. All you need is the stats.

While no court has ever ruled specifically that sports statistics are public information that cannot be owned by anyone, courts have allowed use of player names and likenesses by the public without compensation to the sports figures or their trade associations and have also ruled that mere data is public information.

In the 1990's, I was one of the principal programmers for STATS, Inc. on the first real-time scoring software. This software prompted a lawsuit by the NBA against STATS and Motorola, who were distributing the information through pagers. Alan Schwarz recounts the result on page 192 of his book, The Numbers Game.

It meant that STATS had won. The Circuit Court confirmed the original decision holding that no copyright laws had been broken, and reversed -- strongly -- the holding that STATS had taken NBA property by broadcasting scores and statistics. The NBA was not a news-gathering service on which STATS was free riding, and therefore did not warrant INS-type protection. And while the video and audio broadcasts of sports events are protected under copyright law, the facts contained in them are not.

Sports statistics are not copyrighted. So I don't really see what's the big deal. So you can't use images and logos without paying through the nose? Don't use them!

And of course, it's not a bright move by MBLAM, either.

Shortly after news of the licensing agreement broke, MLB Advanced Media chief executive Bob Bowman said "Our goal is to increase the number of people who participate in fantasy leagues and the number of games for fantasy players." He added "We also want to listen to licensees as to how they can make this a greater game." Unfortunately, it's very difficult to reconcile those statements with the facts at hand. The companies still on the sidelines represent millions of fantasy players who will, at best, have fewer choices for their gaming needs if these companies decline to offer games in 2005.

So give out inexpensive licenses. Here's the price structure as reported in the article.

If they have fewer than 5,000 customers, they can have a license for $10,000 for the 2005 season. If they have more than 5,000 customers, the price jumps to $500,000.

That's not encouraging growth. The license cost per customer should drop as subscribership increases; that's how you encourage growth. It's obvious that MLBAM is trying to shut down large competitors.

My advice to fantasy operators is do without the logos. Operate your games with stats only. And band together in case someone comes after you about the stats. The case law that exists is on your side.

As an aside, I find this very disappointing. Major League Baseball has a history of being on the wrong side of technology. They did not embrace radio or television because they thought it would keep people out of the ballparks. Instead, both created many more fans for the game, which led to great revenues. When MLB.com came around, I thought the lessons had been learned. MLB appeared to embrace the internet, creating good content, real time information and game broadcasts. But this is a step back to the old days. Fantasy baseball helps build fan interest in the game. And it builds fan interest in all teams and players, not just the local boys of summer. If anything, MLBAM should be giving away the licenses to encourage as many fantasy games as possible! Eventually, they can ask for a percentage of the take. If the growth is high, MLBAM would do just fine.

I'm even more disappointed in the MLBPA. I still believe they are the best union in the world, but they need to understand that the value of their players comes from fans wanting to watch them perform. More people playing fantasy games means more eyeballs to watch them pitch and hit. It would be nice if the MLBPA stepped in and said, "This wasn't what we had in mind when we gave you the exclusive."