London Olympic Officials Warn Athletes To Avoid Posting Photos And Videos, Same Goes For Spectators

Olympic officials in London are preparing for the 2012 summer games by issuing new rules regarding the posting of videos and photographs taken during the games.

London passed legislation ahead of the game that is capable of penalizing people who violate official branding attempts for the Olympics.

In legal terms the new legislations prohibits the following type of actions:

• Athletes posting media of themselves with products that are not Olympics sponsors.
• Fans uploading their own photos or video of the games
• Businesses attracting customers with official Olympics nomenclature, like “2012 Games”

While it is unlikely that the IOC will go after every single violation it discovers the legislation does allow for tighter media controls for the Olympics. According to the Guardian:

“On a very literal reading of the terms and conditions, there’s certainly an argument that the IOC could run that you wouldn’t be able to post pictures to Facebook. … It would appear that if you or I attended an event, we could only share our photos with our aunties around the kitchen table.”

In the meantime the Olympics five rings, games mottoes and other verbiage associated with the 2012 Olympic Games are protected under the legislation.

While it is sensible to protect the games from trademark violations officials in London could be shooting themselves in the foot by killing its attempt to gain traction from social media users who may now shy away from posting about the games for fear of violating a piece of London legislation.

I personally can’t wait to see an athlete caught drinking a Pepsi instead of a Coke inside a posted photograph and ending up with a fine or suspension. Do you think London officials and the IOC have gone to far?