MLB Can Quash Copyright "Offenders," but not Steroid Users

For those who remember Jon Stewart’s typically witty take on President Obama throwing out the first pitch at the Major League Baseball All-Star game recently, it was, as always, vintage Stewart. What you won’t be able to do, however, is find the clip of Stewart online. Not a legal version, anyway. It seems that Major League Baseball has demanded that the clip that accompanied Stewart’s bit, in which the president throws out the first pitch to St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols, be removed from the "Daily Show" website and other websites around the Internet.

According to Viacom officials, they were contacted by Major League Baseball and told to take down the footage. MLB had no issue with the use of the footage in the first place, as it was a news story, generally used by just about every television station in the U.S., and free to utilize under "fair use" terms. Where MLB had an issue, however, was in allowing the footage to remain as part of Viacom’s archives and to circulate on the Internet in perpetuity.

Viacom could have fought the edict from MLB, of course, but has chosen to spend their legal resources elsewhere. If we want to get really cynical about this (and, why not, given the state of Major League Baseball), what this means is the MLB is great at making sure "their" property is protected. If you want to get all doped up on steroids and other illegal performance enhancing drugs, however, you’re fine. Sure, you might get a slap on the wrist, but you’ll be back in the minors on a rehab assignment before your suspension has even been fully served. America’s pastime, indeed.