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Thursday, March 11, 2010

Courts - More on "Three lawsuits may change how NCAA operates"

Updating this Feb. 13, 2010 ILB entry, Katie Thoas of the NY Times reports today:

Eleven former college football and basketball players have joined the former U.C.L.A. basketball star Ed O’Bannon in a class-action lawsuit that argues the N.C.A.A. should compensate former athletes for the use of their images and likenesses.

The athletes include Alex Gilbert, a teammate of Larry Bird at Indiana State, four participants in the 1966 Division I men’s basketball championship game, and football and basketball players who competed in the 1990s and in the past decade, according to documents filed Wednesday in federal court in Oakland, Calif.

Although the new plaintiffs do not change the substance of the lawsuit, which was filed last year, a lawyer for O’Bannon said their participation bolsters the case. “I think this is going to be a vivid illustration of the support among former student-athletes for no longer tolerating abuse by the N.C.A.A.,” said Michael Hausfeld, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

The lawsuit argues that the N.C.A.A., athletic conferences and member institutions violate federal antitrust laws by usurping the rights of former players to earn royalties when their likenesses and images are licensed by the N.C.A.A. for use in television advertisements, video games, apparel and other products. Amateurism rules prevent current college players from earning money from their names or likenesses, but lawyers for O’Bannon and the other plaintiffs have argued that those rules should not apply to former athletes.

Plus here are two stories from yesterday:

"Landmark Case Against NCAA Turning Into College Basketball History Course," from The AmLaw Daily.

"Lawsuit against NCAA could lead to end of amateurism" by Frank Deford at Sports Illustrated.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 11, 2010 02:52 PM
Posted to Courts in general