NFL players plight for control of their names, images, and likenesses plays on

It’s hard to catch up on any trending sports news that is not shaming or supporting the turmoil behind fantasy sports. However, one might be impressed to know that new legal battles are fought in the world of athletics that may never come to the forefront of trending topics.

It’s not that these issues matter less; they just typically involve older incidents. On Friday, Nov. 20, for instance, Ex-NFL players filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the United States Supreme Court to review a settlement decision from the Eighth Circuit. The original filing date of this suit? 2009.

It’s hard to keep up to speed on news about noteworthy sports cases when they span years, as the pending fantasy sites Fanduel and Draftkings are about to find out. Nevertheless, the ex-players that filed for the writ of certiorari have legitimate claims that are likely to show up in current disputes—even the fantasy ones.

Former players James Marshall (Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings), Joseph Senser (Minnesota Vikings), and Dante Pastorini (Houston Oilers, Oakland Raiders, Los Angeles Rams, Philadelphia Eagles), among other players, filed a class action suit six years ago in the Eighth Circuit alleging misuse of game footage and interviews involving the names, images, and likenesses (NILs) of the players without licenses or consent.

The Circuit Court judge found for defendant, the NFL, holding that the speech was not commercial in nature and was entitled to full First Amendment protection. This is a conflicting holding, since the Plaintiffs had alleged that the use of their NIL’s enhanced the NFL’s brand and served as advertisement. However, the judge disagreed, and considered the use of the NIL’s in the footage as actual content. As this case has progressed through the appeals process, the NFL has reached a settlement agreement with the class, which the class has filed to appeal to the Supreme Court.

According to the class, the settlement decision does not ensure that any harmed participant will receive any of the settlement; rather, the petition alleges that the counsels of both defense and class representatives are given too much power over the settlement. This, in turn, is suspected to lead to a misuse of settlement allocation, and puts members of the class at risk.

As we hear of new suits filed against Draftkings or Fanduel almost daily, it’s bound to be noteworthy how this pending issue will be resolved (assuming the petition is even granted by the Supreme Court). The same issues of profiting off players NIL’s is bound to be a new suit slammed against FanDuel and Draftkings. As this article is put to press, there may very well be suits alleging similar misconduct waiting to be filed.

Although this case is facing it’s final stages of appeal, it appears the underlying issue has long but been put to rest.

By: Samantha Kelley, Associate Editor of Sports and Entertainment

photo credit: Matt McGee via flickr.com cc

Sources Used:

http://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news/56819-8th-circuit-upholds-nfl-likeness-class-action-settlement/

https://www.law360.com/sports/articles/730123/ex-nflers-slam-42m-publicity-rights-deal-to-high-court