Tag: NCAA

Respondents File Brief in Supreme Court in Davis v. Electronic Arts

Michael Davis and the other retired football players who sued Electronic Arts for the use of their identities in Madden NFL filed their opposition brief today in the Supreme Court. They argue against granting certiorari in the case. The Ninth Circuit previously held that the alleged use of the players' identities is not protected by...

Constitutional Law and Intellectual Property Law Professors Call on Supreme Court to Review Davis

Professor Eugene Volokh (UCLA) and I filed a brief today in support of granting certiorari in Davis v. Electronic Arts. The brief was signed on to by many leading constitutional law and IP law scholars. We call on the Supreme Court to address the disarray among lower courts about how to analyze the First Amendment...

Student-Athletes File Appeal in Marshall v. ESPN

The student-athlete plaintiffs in Marshall have filed their opening brief in their appeal to the Sixth Circuit.  The Tennessee district court had earlier rejected the claim that television broadcasts of collegiate games violated the players’ rights of publicity under Tennessee law.  The brief contends that the district court erred by excluding the sports broadcasts from...

EA Files Cert. Petition in Davis v. Electronic Arts

On Monday, EA filed a Petition seeking Supreme Court review in Davis v. Electronic Arts, 775 F.3d 1172 (9th Cir. 2015).  The video game maker asks the Supreme Court to reverse the Ninth Circuit and hold that the use of realistic depictions of people in expressive works, including video games, is protected by the First...

Decision in O’Bannon v. NCAA Provides Right of Publicity Edge to the NCAA

The Ninth Circuit’s decision last week upholding the application of antitrust laws to the NCAA, has several implications for student-athletes and their rights of publicity.  The appellate court’s holding that the NCAA could retain its rules requiring students to remain amateur means that student-athletes cannot receive compensation for uses of their names or likenesses, or...

Student-Athletes Lose Right of Publicity Claim for Licensed Use of NCAA Photographs

On March 6, 2015, a district court in California held that the student-athletes claims against T3Media for its Paya.com website were preempted by copyright law.  The NCAA gaver T3Media permission to display and sell photographs of NCAA athletes.  In an opinion that only adds to the confusion over how to assess when right of publicity...

Federal Court in Tennessee rejects student-athletes’ right of publicity claim against ESPN for game broadcasts

In June of 2015, a district court in Tennessee rejected a class action claim by student-athletes that their rights of publicity were being violated by the broadcast of collegiate games.  The court held that the use of their names and likenesses in the context of the broadcasts was outside the scope of the statutory right...