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US: NCAA asks 9th Circuit to Strip attorney fee in antitrust case

By  |  February 19, 2018

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) fought a US$40 million attorney fee award at the Ninth Circuit on Friday, February 16, in an antitrust class action by former student-athletes who said the organization forced students to sign their rights away while reaping the benefits of licensing and merchandise agreements.

The federal case played out in court for six years as the student-athletes challenged the makers of sports video games, a college licensing company and the NCAA.

Former UCLA basketball star Edward O’Bannon claimed in the 2009 federal class action that students were forced to sign away the rights to their own images if they wanted to play NCAA sports.

Like many other former athletes, O’Bannon’s collegiate career is archived in video footage, photographs and that content is sold through merchandising deals.

In their class action, the former athletes said NCAA’s backlog of archived footage is estimated to be valued in the billions of dollars.

Full Content: Global Competition Review

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