Nico Rosberg has had his tribute helmet to the Germany national football team blocked by football’s governing body, FIFA. The design featured the colours of the German flag, and also the World Cup trophy, as a tribute to their recent World Cup victory. But, FIFA, have asked Rosberg to take it off, as it violates their terms of copyright with the image of the trophy.
Rosberg’s manager, Georg Nolte said on Twitter; “There will be an update on @nico_rosberg’s Germany helmet design today. Will be without #WorldCuptrophy. BUT with 4 stars on it.” The four stars represent the amount of times that Germany have won the World Cup.
FIFA have defended their decision to ask the current F1 championship leader to remove the image of the trophy, with a spokesperson saying; “FIFA is obliged to take action against any unauthorised reproduction of its intellectual property in a commercial context.
“If FIFA would not follow up on any potential infringements of its intellectual property, it would risk losing its legal right and title to such works, thereby endangering the foundation of its commercial programme which is driven primarily by the access to, and usage of, our brand marks, including the FIFA World Cup trophy.
“An example of the strength of FIFA’s intellectual property assets is reflected by recent research in seven key global markets where the FIFA World Cup trophy recorded an average recognition level of 83 per cent.
“These levels are significantly higher than any other sporting trophies.
“As a result, we cannot allow a commercially branded helmet to feature the FIFA World Cup trophy as this would jeopardise the rights of our commercial affiliates.
“We appreciate Nico Rosberg’s desire to congratulate the German team and have therefore been in discussions with the Rosberg team to attempt to find a solution, whereby he is still able to show his support for Germany without using FIFA intellectual property in a commercial context.”
Rosberg sent a Tweet saying; “A shame, I would have loved to carry the trophy as a tribute to the guys. But of course I respect the legal situation.” Also releasing a photo of his new helmet design for the weekend in the process.
