Copyright Controversy: NFL Players’ In-Game Performances Protected by Individual Publicity Rights

In a decision issued  Friday,February 26, 2016 the Eighth Circuit affirmed a summary judgment ruling against NFL athletes John Frederick Dryer, Elvin Lamont Bethea, and Edward Alvin White.

The dispute dates back to 2009 when a number of ex-NFL athletes sued the NFL, alleging in part that the NFL misappropriated their “names, images, symbols, and likenesses, to promote the NFL, sell NFL-related products, and otherwise generate revenue for the NFL” in violation of state right of publicity law and the Lanham Trademark Act of 1946. …

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