Day 7 of O’Bannon Trial: Lengthy Testimonies from Both Sides Continued

The O’Bannon trial continued with more witnesses from both sides appeared in Judge Claudia Wilken’s courtroom on Wednesday. The University of South Carolina president Harris Pastides and the women’s athletic director at the University of Texas Christine Plonsky were among the NCAA’s witnesses while Electronic Art’s chief legal officer Joel Linzner appeared as one of the plaintiffs’ witnesses.

Pastides, a member of the NCAA Division I Board of Directors and of a committee in charge of the league’s governance reform, testified that the school’s revenue …

June 19, 2014 Copyright / Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Trademark

Sherlock Holmes is Ruled Public Domain

Judge Richard Posner of the 7^th Circuit US Court of Appeals authored an opinion on Monday, June 16, 2014, ruling that the brilliant detective “Sherlock Holmes” is mostly public domain.

Back in December 2013, Chief Judge Ruben Castillo of the District Court for the Northern Division of Illinois, ruled in favor of the plaintiff, Leslie Klinger. Mr. Klinger, co-editor of “A Study in Sherlock: Stories Inspired by the Sherlock Holmes Canon,” brought the suit after being threatened by the Conan Doyle estate when it …

June 18, 2014 Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Trademark / NFL / Trademark

Washington Redskins Trademark Registration Cancelled

The Washington Redskins six trademark registrations have been cancelled by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The office reasoned that the registrations were “disparaging to Native Americans at the respective times they were registered.” Reviewed by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, the decision was based on federal trademark law that prevents registration of trademarks that “may disparage” certain groups or individuals or “bring them into contempt or disrepute.”

“The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board agreed with our clients that the team’s name and trademarks

June 18, 2014 Litigation

Does Disney Discriminate Against the Elderly?

On June 10, Kevin Brady, a 26-year veteran story writer for Walt Disney Pictures, filed suit against the studio alleging age discrimination. Brady further alleges that Disney has a “history and pattern of terminating long-term employees and replacing them with younger employees who have less experience at the company.”

Brady was hired as a full-time employee in 1988, and received several promotions over the following decades, culminating in his promotion to head of the story department in 2005. Brady says he consistently received excellent performance …

June 17, 2014 NCAA

Playing Basketball for a Division I School is a Hobby?

According to the NCAA manual, it is. “The Principle of Amateurism” of the manual states that “[s]tudent participation in intercollegiate athletics is an avocation, and student-athletes should be protected from exploitation by professional and commercial enterprises.” Further, “[s]tudent-athletes shall be amateurs in an intercollegiate sport, and their participation should be motivated primarily by education and by the physical, mental and social benefits to be derived.”

The logic for the NCAA is that because student-athletes are amateurs in an intercollegiate sport, whose participation is an avocation, …

June 16, 2014 NCAA

Day 5 of the O’Bannon Trial: MONEY

Day 5 of the O’Bannon trial was about money. How big of an empire is the NCAA in terms of its revenues? An economist and the plaintiffs’ expert witness Dan Rascher said that from the 69 conference teams in the league there was a $1.3 billion surplus and about $6.4 billion of total broadcast revenues in Division 1 from 2005 to 2011. Moreover, no other sporting event produces more advertising revenues than the league’s basketball tournament in the U.S.

Rascher continued that during the 2012-2013 …

June 14, 2014 NCAA

Who’s Got the Rights?

On day four of the O’Bannon case, the dual between the athletes and the NCAA over the players’ rights in their names, images, and likeness or NIL took place. The players argued that they own their NIL rights and the NCAA misappropriated those rights while the NCAA argued the players do not have such rights, at least in the context of live broadcasting of the games.

The plaintiffs presented several TV broadcasting contracts, including one between the Big12 and Fox. The relevant provision says, “The …

June 13, 2014 Antitrust / NCAA

Former NCAA Football Player Testifies in the O’Bannon Trial

On June 11, Tyrone Prothro, former wide receiver at University of Alabama, took the witness stand in a landmark anti-trust lawsuit against the NCAA. Prothro is most known for his 2005 legendary play dubbed as ‘The Catch’ which unfortunately left him with horrific injuries including a broken leg which was completely destroyed three weeks later in a game against Florida. Since The Catch, Prothro underwent 10 leg surgeries that essentially ended his football career. On the other hand, Alabama received $110,000 in general scholarship fund …

June 12, 2014 NFL

Jackson Claims Bias in NFLPA

DeSean Jackson filed a cross-petition in the Central District Court of California last week to vacate an arbitration award against him in favor of his agent, Drew Rosenhaus. Long-time NFLPA arbitrator Roger Kaplan awarded Rosenhaus $516,000 in unpaid loans and fees. Jackson seeks dismissal of the award, claiming Rosenhaus violated several NFLPA regulations and that Rosenhaus’ relationship with many members within the NFLPA resulted in biased arbitration.

In his complaint, Jackson points out that NFLPA executive director, DeMaurice Smith, and NFLPA president, Eric Winston, have …

June 10, 2014 Antitrust / NBA

Sterling to Oppose Forced Sale in Court

L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling released a statement on Monday titled, “The Team is not for Sale.” In his statement, Sterling claims he will not assent to the forced sale of his team and will fight it in court. Sterling intends to move forward with a $1 Billion lawsuit against the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver for the forced sale of the Clippers. Sterling argues that the NBA breached their contract by fining him and that it breached antitrust law by forcing a sale of …

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