It is no secret that the NCAA is a very profitable business, and student athletes are clamoring for their fair share. To that end, the Fair Pay to Play Act was introduced earlier this year and picked up steam after California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law. California’s recent legislation is paving the
The debate surrounding compensating college athletes has been ongoing for decades. Until now, a court has not ruled on whether college athletes should be compensated for their service. The Ninth Circuit recently ruled that amateur compensation rules are commercial in nature and anticompetitive. Following the Ninth Circuit’s lead, California proposed a bill that may soon
Question: “I’ve been playing ball my entire life, and now I’ve got a shot at the pros. My buddy tells me I should get an agent, but I don’t want to pay a guy to just shuffle some papers. Can’t I just handle my contract on my own?” – Al E. Hoop Answer: Once upon
The NFL seems to fumble its attempts to protect the integrity of football, particularly in high profile cases. Fundamental principles of fairness (written in the Constitution) have generally been overlooked when handing out sanctions to NFL players for misconduct. In a series of recent disciplinary actions by the NFL, courts stepped in and looked beyond
The Washington Redskins will soon be an example of all that can go wrong when a trademark loses federal trademark protection. This summer, a federal judge ordered the cancellation of six of the team’s federally registered trademarks, including the “Redskins” name. The judge held that the name was disparaging to Native Americans and therefore violated
Trademarks, and the rights of trademark holders, are commonly misunderstood. Many business owners want to know, what are the advantages of federally registering a mark? A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design (or a combination of those things) that identifies and distinguishes the source of certain goods or services. Essentially, a trademark is
Donald Sterling has been in the news non-stop for the last few weeks and it seems that won’t be changing anytime soon. A hearing scheduled for Tuesday June 3rd will bring together the National Basketball Association (“NBA”) Board of Governors for a vote to determine if Sterling will retain his control of the Los Angeles
Peter Ohr, the Chicago regional director of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”), has dismantled the long-held “student-athlete” classification for Northwestern University football players. In his decision this Wednesday, Ohr found that scholarship football recruits are employees, opening the door for the unionization of collegiate football players at private schools. The highly notable and controversial
The NFL may have to revise its blackout policy for the televised broadcasting of games, which is now officially under attack by the FCC. Under the NFL’s current policy, games that haven’t sold between 85% and 100% of their tickets within 72 hours of kickoff won’t be televised in the local market. The FCC, however,
In the wake of the Miami Dolphins bullying scandal, the NFL commissioned the Paul, Weiss law firm to do an independent investigation and report on the allegations of misconduct. Released on February 14, 2014, the report is a call to action for the League to monitor and control abusive workplace conduct. The report notes: “the
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