The NYSE Tries to Assert Trademark Protection Over Its Floor??

OK, gang, this doesn’t fall into any of my practice areas, but sometimes you have to point out abuses when you see them.  The good folks at the New York Stock Exchange are trying to quash the use of stock photos of their trading floor in news stories on financial matters by the popular political blog Talking Points Memo, claiming that the depiction of the trading floor violates their trademark.  This is an argument best left to the environs of the ivory tower; in the real world, it’s transparent nonsense.  What’s next?  No photos of Yankee Stadium in an article about baseball?