Athletes 2 NCAA 0

[Steve19]

Judge Says NCAA Athlete-Likeness Lawsuit Will Proceed

May 5, 2011, 3:33 pm
By Libby Sander
A federal judge in California has rejected the NCAA's second attempt to dismiss antitrust and right-to-publicity claims against it in a lawsuit brought by former college football and basketball players, and has set a trial date of March 11, 2013.

Also this week, lawyers for the plaintiffs announced that they would take a deposition from the NCAA's president, Mark A. Emmert, in Indianapolis next month. NCAA officials on Thursday disputed this assertion. "As the plaintiffs well know, Dr. Emmert was not at the NCAA during the time period at issue in this lawsuit," the spokesman, Bob Williams, said in an e-mail to The Chronicle. "The plaintiffs' notice of his deposition at this point is inappropriate, and we will take action accordingly."

In the court ruling, issued on Monday, Judge Claudia Wilken of the U.S. District Court in Oakland, Calif., also dismissed claims that the video-game company Electronic Arts Inc., which is a co-defendant with the NCAA in the broader lawsuit, violated antitrust law by conspiring with the NCAA and its licensing arm to avoid paying former college athletes for the use of their images and likenesses in video games.

The ruling is the latest development in a class-action lawsuit, dubbed In re NCAA Student Athlete Names & Likenesses Litigation, brought by former college athletes against the company, the NCAA, and the Collegiate Licensing Company, which handles the NCAA's licensing business.

(continues here)

Does not preclude or affect several individual lawsuits.

 

[alexhortdog95]

Sam Keller, a former football player at Arizona State and Nebraska, and Ed O?Bannon, a former standout basketball player at UCLA, are the lead plaintiffs in the right-to-publicity and antitrust segments of the case, respectively.

Keller didn't do much when he was here (well), but if he wins this.....

 

[CincyInterloper]

I believe Delany is being overly dramatic and this has zero chance of ever happening.

Andy Staples apocalyptic view of what could happen if O'Bannon prevails in his lawsuit:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130318/big-ten-jim-delany-ncaa-obannon/

 

[Mike80]

Never say never with activist judges....

 

[alexhortdog95]

"If Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Nebraska and the rest of the Big Ten suddenly downsized athletics, though, it would profoundly change college athletics by ticking off some massive alumni bases and by sending more revenue to the SEC, Big 12 and Pac-12 if they didn't follow suit."