Players’ Rights to Their Likeness and its usage in video games
Collegiate athletics has experienced rapid financial gain over the last twenty years. With that known, student-athletes have demanded a larger piece of the pie due to the fact that without the athletes no one would be making any of this money. At the point this suit was filed in 2009 the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) had refused to adopt policies that would allow for players to be compensated.
Student athlete likeness has been a big issue in the world of college sports for a while now. Many current and former college athletes have been and are suing EA Sports and the NCAA over the use of their likenesses in their best-selling game franchises. Games like March
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Stating that it fell under our first amendment right of free speech. The court ruled in favor of the plaintiff Sam Keller. Keller was a quarterback for Arizona State and Nebraska. Keller's suit was filed initially in 2009.
Rob Carey, one of Keller’s attorneys said “From the standpoint of the lawsuit the implications are quite significant, it is a separate lawsuit but it's in the same district and the same precedent will apply in the O'Bannon case."
The court voted in favor of Keller. The decision stated that the Arizona State quarterback in the 2005 and 2008 EA game had the "same height, weight, skin color, hair color, hairstyle, handedness, home state, play style, facial features, and classification as Sam Keller. (SAMUEL MICHAEL KELLER, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, Plaintiff, v. ELECTRONIC ARTS, INC.; NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETICS ASSOCIATION; and COLLEGIATE LICENSING COMPANY, Defendants., 2010)
EA continued to claim that the First Amendment protected its right to create and release these EA games. EA lost the appeal in district court. They also lost in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Carey said “one of the next steps now is to apply for class certification.” The NCAA also elected not to renew its contract with
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To me that means that they are getting the money for the games just not while the games are being sold but later when they are out of college.
"Mr. Russell’s complaint and those like it would cause the NCAA to lock up its archive of championship contests, and they would be held hostage unless every student-athlete, coach, band member, cheerleader and fan in any photo or camera shot received compensation," He said. "That is not how the law works, nor should it be.”
Russell added to 24 other players who were partaking in the litigation.
Over the years the NCAA has made exponential growth in all facets. The policies that were in place to govern the NCAA twenty years ago cannot be used to govern today. A lot of changes are beginning to take place in regards to the NCAA’s policy on player compensation. This is in large part due to the suit discussed above. EA is no longer manufacturing college athletic video games. In my opinion, athletes should be compensated for companies marketing their likeness. This is a very profitable athlete driven business and athletes are not receiving fair treatment. I agree with all of the rulings in each of the above
The NCAA has been around and evolved since the beginning of college sports. This organization is a non-profitable organization, but ironically makes more than millions of profit per year. Branch states “that money comes from a combination of ticket sales, concession sales, merchandise, licensing fees, and other sources—but the great bulk of it comes from television contract”(pg. 228). Meanwhile, the student-athletes do not receive any of this money. This is the start of an unsubstantial business between universities built around amateurism.
A keener analysis of this case would reveal the likelihood of the existence of the NCAA being towed apart (D'Alessandro, 2013). In his suit, O'Bannon reveals the fact that in 2009 the NCAA expected to reap huge profits in by using his UCLA likeness on a college basketball video game yet the real talents generating the profits both on the field and on the court and in licensed products him includes are in no way going to be compensated (D'Alessandro, 2013). Not only this for there are many sources of the negative criticism of the Association such as the lucrative advertisement deals signed by the NCAA case in point the deal with ESPN of approximately 450 million dollar for the televising rights to broadcast the playoffs of the college football and the major
The authors begin the article discussing the creation of the NCAA and how they came to the creation of their amateurism laws, providing a background to as to why college athletes are not allowed to receive any form of monetary payment. Johnson and Acquaviva then present five arguments as to why college athletes should not be compensated. These arguments are that athletes are being paid with their education, new issues would arise with fair pay if college athletes were compensated, college athletes are receiving more than just an education, paying college athletes would eliminate competition, and that college athletes already know what to expect when they sign to play for a university. The authors then provide counter arguments that help to prove that college athletes should be paid for their play. These are that the cost of living is not covered in college scholarships, college athletes don’t understand that they will be set aside if they are injured or benched, and college athletes do not receive more than an education due to their full schedules. The authors then explain some of the plans that could help to fairly compensate college athletes, such as allowing them to receive endorsement deals. Finally, Johnson and
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) makes roughly $1 billion in income annually and the athletes do not receive any of it. This topic has been debated for many years and is still being debated. The debate dates back to the 1980s and now athletes are demanding that they deserve to be paid since profits are made off of them. Some athletes such as former and current basketball and football players came together with lawsuits to federal courts asking for rewards from profits NCAA makes gets of them. Research has opened several different opinions on this matter. There are many pros and cons for paying college athletes. College sports provide a huge source of the university’s income. The athletes, however, receive their scholarship
(Solomon 1) In the NCAA there are many laws that prevent the athletes from doing certain things. These laws are called the “Laws of Amateurism”. In general, amateurism requirements do not allow salary for participating in athletics, or prize money above actual or necessary expenses (NCAA Center). However Judge Claudia Wilken partially granted class action status in a lawsuit concerning the use of college athletes' names and likenesses. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ruled the plaintiffs, including former and current Division I men's basketball players and Football Bowl Subdivision players, will be allowed to challenge the NCAA's current restrictions on what athletes might receive in exchange for playing sports. The ruling sets up the prospect of a fundamental change in scholarship rules and the concept of amateurism (Berkowitz 3). This would help athletes to be able to fight for the compensated pay.
Abstract: Collegiate athletes participating in the two revenue sports (football, men's basketball) sacrifice their time, education, and risk physical harm for their respected programs. The players are controlled by a governing body (NCAA) that dictates when they can show up to work, and when they cannot show up for work. They are restricted from making any substantial financial gains outside of their sports arena. These athletes receive no compensation for their efforts, while others prosper from their abilities. The athletes participating in the two revenue sports of college athletics, football and men's basketball should be compensated for their time, dedication, and work put forth in their respected sports.
Thesis: College athletes should not get paid due to the financial restrictions of the NCAA, the imbalance of competition, and the fact that these young adults are students.
There is blatant, inarguable proof that the players and their talents are being exploited. These athletes are the draw to the games. They are the reason people watch and cheer on their teams. The amount of money given as a “full” scholarship is a marginal benefit only a drop in the bucket when compared to the market value of a player’s talent and skills. Athletic scholarships, as will be explained later, is indeed financial assistance but still leaves the student athlete living below, or at best slightly above, the poverty line. The NCAA and the respective universities has a duty to be concerned with the overall well-being of its players, not just whether or not an injury would keep their star player from playing in the upcoming game. The NCAA ought to consider the social responsibility of meeting the needs of its players, subsequently initiating a reformation of the NCAA bylaws concerning paying college athletes.
Many student-athletes can have their whole career, their passion, and love of their respected sport taken away from them with just 1 play. The student-athletes are representing their respective school and making the school more popular and more students will want to enroll there and the student-athletes are making the NCAA millions of dollars, but the NCAA will not give the student-athletes just a little allowance because it will “ruin the integrity of college sports”. Student athletes-athletes should get paid because students could get hurt in one play, the NCAA makes millions of dollars on the the players, and it will make the players do smarter things with their money.
Billy preston had a bright future but he may not get to play basketball for the rest of his life. The NCAA is very strict on these rules. They must receive no money from anybody but teammates or parents. O’Bannon and 19 others sued the NCAA, claiming the organization violated United States antitrust laws by not allowing athletes to get a share of the revenues generated from the use of their images in broadcasts and video games. Many former collegiate players were compensated, but some felt it was inadequate and they were owed more.
With college basketball and football originating in the 1800’s, the game has had much time to adapt. Over the years, the sports have become more and more popular, gaining a bigger fan base, which has resulted in substantial profits from the sale of merchandise representing the teams and players. There is one thing that has not changed; all of the athletes are still not being paid. The National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA, is an organization that regulates most aspects of
In America sports wherever there is people, there will also be sports. Sports have played a major role in American history. To some people sports is all they have. It is just the way that things are. The issue in sports now is that the NCAA exploit the sports world and the very backbone of the corporation is the poorest. It is an issue that has been around for quite some time now. The issue is that the sports world face is the fact that college athletes are not paid, although they perform in a multibillion dollar industry. The NCAA basically has a monopoly on college athletics, and generate about one billion dollars a year. College sports are extremely demanding both in and out of season, and these athletes put their future on the line. The NCAA should be legally obligated to compensate athletes, based solely on the fact that the money made, is from their performance.
College athletes are taken advantage of and deserve to be compensated for their services while playing sports. These students are exploited and used to make money and out of everything that particular school makes, the athlete never given a penny of it. All of the hard works, blood, sweat and tears that they put into that
When it comes to college athletics, there always will be a problem that arises. It is one of the most controversial topics there is. One of the main issues within athletics is the idea of whether to pay college athletes or not. Several studies have been done along with articles from various sources. This has been on the rise especially since “March Madness” is coming up. “March Madness” may only consist of three weekends, however, an 11 billion dollar deal is made to televise the games (Wilbon). This is when you have to take the time to sit back and contemplate whether these college athletes really are getting the fair end of the stick. Under NCAA laws it is forbidden to pay these athletes for their performance yet at the same time they
NCAA and EA Sports video games. There are other ways that student athletes can get paid; by