The NCAA Licensing Lawsuits

The NCAA is being suied by former student athletes, lead by Ed O’Bannon for not requesting permission to use the former student-athletes images and likenesses. According to Ed’s attorneys, the NCAA is profiting about $4 billion a year of sales of DVD, video games, books and poster of past performances. The federal district court is reviewing the case to determine if it qualify for class action against the NCAA. What’s at stake is the profit sharing with former student-athletes whom images have been violated and the NCAA paying them compensation.



NCAA Licensing Agreement
Currently, the NCAA is requiring Universities to include with their scholorships, licensing agreement giving the university and the NCAA the right to use the player’s “name or likeness in merchandise or advertising for fee or royalty”. Are parents selling their kids future royalties?
http://www.amazon.com/1995-NCAA-Division-Basketball-Championship/dp/B000NPP9IU/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1250702774&sr=8-7





Oscar Roberson
http://thesportdigest.com/2011/01/oscar-roberson-and-ncaa-the-big-o-says-no/
NBA Hall of famer and NCAA All-American, Oscar Robertson announced joining the class action suit as a plaintiff. The Big “O” blame the NCAA for intellectual property and anti-trust violations, by using his signature, image and name in cards and video games without compensating him.


Michael Jordan Sues Qiaodan Sports
http://www.ipbrief.net/2012/02/28/michael-jordan-sues-qiaodan-sports-to-reclaim-his-name/
Michael Jordan Sues Republic of China company for trademark infringement of his name and image without permission from him or Nike, Inc., which owns the name and identity. For years Qiaodan Sports have been using Michael Jordan’s trademarks, photo’s, “Jumpman” logo and other commercial products for profits.


Conclusion

A issue that comes to mind is should the NCAA be allowed to own the rights and profit from all former student-athletes images, names, television broadcasts, DVD’s and video games without compensating the athletes.

In my opinion, the NCAA is illegally profiting from former student-athletes, in the same maner that Qiaodan sports are infringing on Michael Jordan’s trademarks. Monies are being earned by the NCAA from older student-athletes performances without paying the former athletes. Past games are licensed by the NCAA and being sold on Amazon and other outlets. No additional scholarships are offered as compensation. Fans are purchasing DVD’s and video’s games with the former players identical likeness, uniform and number, not because it say property of the NCAA. If Ed O’Bannon’s attorneys are correct and the NCAA merchandising profit is $4 billion a year, the NCAA can offer licensing agreements for all former student athletes whose images are used.