May 3, 2017 Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Trademark / Litigation / NCAA

Ninth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Former-NCAA Champions’ Likeness Suit

The Ninth Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of the lawsuit of two former college basketball players against a website that sold official NCAA photos, as the website’s rights under federal copyright law preempted the players’ publicity rights.

As background, two former Division III college basketball players, Patrick Maloney and Tim Judge, sued T3Media in June, 2014 regarding the Website’s deal with the NCAA to host and license the League’s photos. Maloney and Judge were part of the 2001 NCAA championship team — Catholic University. …

February 27, 2017 Copyright / NCAA

NCAA Players’ Likeness Suit Attempts to Gain New Life

On February 17, 2017, two former Catholic University basketball players from the 2001 Division III national championship team pleaded for the Ninth Circuit to revive their class action against a website, T3Media, which sold official NCAA photographs from their championship season. The suit commenced in 2012, but was dismissed in 2015 as a District Court judge found that the website did not exceed its copyright and, therefore, was preempted by the Copyright Act. In response to the court’s dismissal, members of professional player unions in …

December 11, 2015 Copyright / NCAA

Pro Athletes File Amicus Brief Supporting NCAA Players’ Likeness Suit

On December 7, 2015 , professional athletes filed an amicus brief in support of a likeness suit brought by two former NCAA basketball players against a media company that sold game-time photographs of the ex-college athletes.

Patrick Maloney and Tim Judge — both former members of the Catholic University 2001 NCAA Championship basketball team — initially brought the likeness suit in relation to a deal the NCAA made with media company T3Media in 2012 to host and license the league’s photo library. Through this deal, …

2001 NCAA Basketball Champs Appeal 9th Circ. Dismissal of Likeness Suit

In March of this year, U.S. District Judge Andre Birotte Jr. dismissed a lawsuit brought by former NCAA basketball players alleging that the licensing of copyrighted photographs violated their right of publicity. Patrick Maloney and Tim Judge — both former members of the Catholic University 2001 NCAA Championship basketball team—initially brought the suit in relation to a deal the NCAA made with T3Media in 2012 to host and license the league’s photo library. Through this deal, the public could purchase non-exclusive licenses to the copyrighted …