US networks CBS, ESPN, Fox and NBC, along with the IMG and WME agencies, have joined forces to apply for the dismissal of a legal action brought by a group of college American football and basketball players, claiming it would mean “chaos” for sports broadcasting.
An October 3 suit brought by the 10 college athletes said that the networks and other parties “have profited from the broadcast and use of student athletes’ names, likenesses and images without the student athletes’ permission.”
The Deadline.com website said the networks and agencies have now responded with a filing in federal court requesting “an order granting the Network Defendants’ Motion and dismissing all allegations and claims against the Network Defendants.”
The filing added: “In further support of the grounds for dismissal submitted by the other Defendants, the Licensing Defendants amplify and add that the United States Supreme Court has already conclusively resolved the antitrust issue in the Complaint, inasmuch as it held that the NCAA’s (National Collegiate Athletic Association) amateurism rules, which Plaintiffs allege are anti-competitive, do not violate the Sherman Act and, in fact, are pro-competitive.”
The case has been assigned to US District Judge Kevin Sharp, with the networks claiming that the plaintiffs’ claims are “fatally flawed.” A memo of law that the networks submitted in support of the motion, added: “Most critically, Plaintiffs’ asserted ‘right of publicity’ does not exist. Tennessee law expressly holds that participants in sporting events have no rights of publicity in the broadcasts of those events.
“So does the law of every other state to address the issue. To hold otherwise would mean chaos for sports broadcasting, among other effects. Not only would sports broadcasters have to obtain the consent of every athlete in every game prior to its broadcast, but, by Plaintiffs’ logic, they also would be required to obtain the consent of anyone else who might appear on the broadcast, including coaches, referees, cheerleaders and fans.”