Observations on Plyburn v. NCAA, and the court’s temporary ruling allowing “former NFL players” to play at the NCAA level.
1. The reporting has been terribly imprecise, resulting in the confusion that most people are expressing. The quality of sports journalism generally has precipitously declined over the last decade.
2. The case was filed in Louisiana state court (specifically the 19th Judicial District in Baton Rouge, LA), not the US District Court. Thus, the court’s ruling in this case applies only within Louisiana’s borders.
3. This ruling is a result of two conditions: 1) the NCAA does not have an anti-trust exemption the way the NFL does; and 2) the NCAA student-athletes are not unionized and thus not collectively bargaining. Those two conditions taken together create the chaotic state of play.
4. The NCAA changes eligibility rules with retroactive effect. If the rule changes are prospective (i.e forward-looking) only, then the number of student-athletes who can be adversely affected during their playing careers drops to zero. NCAA policy should be to only enact changes that will go into effect in a future season.
5. The text of the court’s ruling of September 3rd is not generally available and has not been part of the reporting. That would be incredibly helpful. What has been reported is that it was a temporary restraining order, which allows the preservation of the status quo until the court can more fully consider the parties legal arguments. This means that players in question can join NCAA rosters for now (assuming they satisfy all the other typical eligibility requirements).
6. The plaintiffs are football players who were briefly on NFL rosters. The NCAA 5 for 5 rule would prevent a long time pro from coming down to Division I.
This is going to be interesting to watch. If you are wondering what will definitively control the near constant litigation, the answer is in point #3, above. That is the solution.
https://t.co/sXk10SYWF9
Members of the Stanford University football team have formed a chapter of the College Football Players Association, whose goal is to unionize student-athletes, according to ESPN. This is one of the logical outcomes of the influx of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) payments to the student-athletes over the past few years.
This will evolve in one of two directions: 1) the students are going to unionize and collectively bargain, or 2) Congress will have to grant an antitrust exemption to the NCAA. This will be interesting to watch develop.
https://t.co/FQlR5lh73a
How many social media managers got their clients in legal trouble today?
With all the LeBron James hype, it is probably a good time to remind small business owners that Pennsylvania (and many other states) have Name Image and Likeness statutes that prohibit the use of a person's NIL for commercial or advertising purposes without that person's written permission.
Think before you post.
#smallbusiness
This is an important case, as contributory infringement is a lesser discussed aspect of copyright law. A good example of the Court exercising judicial restraint.
Read more here: https://t.co/RSPeBFIBDm
Artists and creatives - it is time to learn the basics of how contracts are formed and enforced by the courts. I hope to see you February 10th at 7pm eastern via zoom.
Sign up here: https://t.co/DR3jclQ9Gd
@hoffmanhoalaw It is astonishing that when legitimate legal research platforms are readily available, that there are lawyers out there who are too lazy to use them. Relying on chatGPT for anything that would go into a court filing is a recipe for disaster.
I hope you can join me on December 10th via Zoom for the definitive review of US Copyright litigation all in one clean 75 minute package! Click through for the sign up information:
https://t.co/hGTNDr1RIH
Today @Coinbase is announcing our decision to leave Delaware and reincorporate in Texas. This decision was not made lightly, but we’ll always do what’s best for our customers, our employees, and our shareholders. 1/6
CREATORS: It’s time to get serious about running your business. I hope to see you on tonight’s webinar at 7pm eastern.
Sign up link: https://t.co/DR3jclQ9Gd