Judge Orders MSG Bootleg Merch Sellers to Cut It Out, Appear in Court

A federal judge ordered the vendors who sell bootleg Knicks and Rangers gear outside of Madison Square Garden to stop immediately and appear before the court.

Judge Margaret Garnett issued the order Wednesday, two days after MSG Sports, the Knicks, and Rangers filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against the vendors, claiming the sellers use registered trademarks for their own commercial benefit, don’t have the proper permits, and have been “aggressive and belligerent towards pedestrians.”

Garnett issued a temporary restraining order against the defendants, and gave law enforcement free rein to seize any of the bootleg merchandise around game time. The vendors are also required to show up to court on Feb. 13 in New York. Given the lawsuit doesn’t give any names of the vendors—instead calling them “various John Does, Jane Does and XYZ Companies”—it’s not clear who is expected to be in court that day or how many defendants there are.

“Counterfeit merchandise is deceptive to our fans, and we are pleased the judge agreed and affirmed our right to protect our trademarks,” an MSG Sports spokesperson tells Front Office Sports.

Garnett’s restraining order looks nearly identical to the show cause order that MSG Sports and the teams requested Tuesday, with some small changes. When it comes to the authorization to seize any bootleg merchandise, James Dolan’s entities wanted law enforcement and MSG security to have authority, and to be able to act 24 hours before and eight hours after games within a two-mile radius of the arena. (That would extend the jurisdiction into both New Jersey and Brooklyn, as south as SoHo, and farther north than Lincoln Center.) The judge said only law enforcement can take the counterfeit merchandise, and only between three hours before and one hour after a game within a two-block radius of MSG. The NYPD did not respond to a question about whether it plans to have its officers act on the order.

The restraining order for making and selling the bootleg merchandise covers Knicks and Rangers home games for the next two weeks, starting with Thursday night’s Hornets-Knicks game.

The judge ordered MSG Sports to post a $25,000 bond in case any vendor was “wrongfully restrained,” and told the Knicks/Rangers owner to cover the U.S. Marshals’ costs if they ended up seeking their services. The plaintiffs knew this standard practice was coming, but the judge chose the amount.