Yahoo fantasy league suing union over use of stats, likenesses

[LadyStanley]

http://cbs5.com/local/yahoo.fantasy.football.2.1030266.html

Not directly related to NHL, but Yahoo is suing NFLPA about using player stats/likenesses.


(I seem to recall an agreement a year or more ago where the NFL union was demanding monetary compensation of use of player likenesses in fantasy "commercial" leagues.)

 

[LadyStanley]

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/...h-retired-players-over-madden-video-game.aspx

NFLPA settles lawsuit with retired players over their likenesses used in video games. $26m to be paid.

 

[copperandblue]

It makes no sense to me why any aspect of pro sports would try to add barriers in regards to fantasy leagues having all the info they need/want to make them attractive to the users.

Fanatsy leagues are pretty much effective new age marketing for the various sports.

From an NHL perspective I really wish they would recognize this better and start mandating the timely announcement of injuries, starting rosters and starting goaltenders by each team during the regular season.

They want more people following the overall game and imo there really isn't a better method than a fanatasy league to keep people's attention on what is happening outside of their own market.

 

[kasper11]

It makes no sense to me why any aspect of pro sports would try to add barriers in regards to fantasy leagues having all the info they need/want to make them attractive to the users.

Fanatsy leagues are pretty much effective new age marketing for the various sports.

From an NHL perspective I really wish they would recognize this better and start mandating the timely announcement of injuries, starting rosters and starting goaltenders by each team during the regular season.

They want more people following the overall game and imo there really isn't a better method than a fanatasy league to keep people's attention on what is happening outside of their own market.

They want to make more money...this isn't about exposure, the fantasy games will exist regardless of the outcomes of these battles. The only question is whether the league/players association will get paid.

Think of it this way....the players are playing, the league spends tons of money to put on the games, why should Yahoo/ESPN/Sportsline etc get to make money off of these fantasy games without compensating those that are doing the work?

 

[dafoomie]

They want to make more money...this isn't about exposure, the fantasy games will exist regardless of the outcomes of these battles. The only question is whether the league/players association will get paid.

Think of it this way....the players are playing, the league spends tons of money to put on the games, why should Yahoo/ESPN/Sportsline etc get to make money off of these fantasy games without compensating those that are doing the work?

Statistics are facts, you can't own a fact. Not in America anyway.

 

[member 51464]

Statistics are facts, you can't own a fact. Not in America anyway.

Dude, I never really thought about that before. Kind of cool

 

[rye&ginger]

but the player's name is not a fact, but an identity. Lawyers will have their fun.

 

[kdb209]

but the player's name is not a fact, but an identity. Lawyers will have their fun.

Not really.

Courts have ruled on this issue before - MLB lost a similar case 3 years ago.

Names and statistics are not protected intellectual property. Fantasy sports services can use the names and statistics - they cannot use trademarked or other protected property like team logos or player likenesses.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2543720

Updated: August 8, 2006, 9:40 PM ET
Fantasy leagues permitted to use MLB names, stats
ESPN.com news services

ST. LOUIS -- Fantasy baseball leagues are allowed to use player names and statistics without licensing agreements because they are not the intellectual property of Major League Baseball, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

Baseball and its players have no right to prevent the use of names and playing records, U.S. District Court Judge Mary Ann Medler in St. Louis ruled in a 49-page summary judgment.

St. Louis-based CBC Distribution and Marketing Inc. filed a lawsuit against Major League Baseball Advanced Media, MLB's Internet wing, after CBC was denied a new licensing agreement with the baseball players' association giving it the rights to player profiles and statistics.

Major League Baseball claimed that intellectual property laws and so-called "right of publicity" make it illegal for fantasy leagues to make money off the identities and stats of professional players.

But even if the players could claim the right of publicity against commercial ventures by others, Medler wrote, the First Amendment takes precedent because CBC, which runs CDM Fantasy Sports, is disseminating the same statistical information found in newspapers every day.

"The names and playing records of major-league baseball players as used in CBC's fantasy games are not copyrightable," Medler wrote. "Therefore, federal copyright law does not pre-empt the players' claimed right of publicity."

 

[LadyStanley]

http://cbs5.com/local/yahoo.nfl.lawsuit.2.1075256.html

Settlement reached, but no details (yet) made public.