US Olympic Committee Threatens Lawsuit over “Redneck Olympics”

Wednesday, 10 August 2011 | by Pat's Picks

The Olympic Committee is notorious when it comes to protecting its copyright. And according the Lewiston Sun Journal, they even have eyes in rural Maine. After about 2600 people attended the three-day Redneck Olympics on Harold Brooks’ land last weekend, he got a call from the legal division of the U.S. Olympic Committee, saying they owned the rights to the word “Olympics.” Brooks was told if he didn’t change the name of his event, he was facing a lawsuit. His response:  ‘I’m not basing it on your Olympics; I’m basing it on the Olympics in Greece.”

The Committee has exclusive rights to the name under something called the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act. But Brooks says he’s undeterred. He’ll replace the ‘o’ with a ‘0’ if necessary: “The ‘Zero-lympics.’ Are they going to say I can’t use numbers?” Now that would really be redneck.

Check out some of the event featured at this year’s competition: