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US: Top networks demand college athlete class action dismissal

By  |  December 11, 2014

Several of the largest television networks are calling for the immediate dismissal of a class action lawsuit filed by college athletes in the wake of the landmark antitrust ruling against the NCAA.

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    NBC, CBS, WME, IMG and ESPN have all called for the dismissal of the suit against the Networks because “the United States Supreme Court has already conclusively resolved the antitrust issue in the Complaint, inasmuch as it held that the NCAA’s amateurism rules, which Plaintiffs allege are anti-competitive, do not violate the Sherman Act and, in fact, are pro-competitive.”

    The lawsuit was filed last October by college athletes on claims that the networks have profited from the use of their names and likeness without permission.

    The case was filed following an earlier ruling that found the NCAA should pay its athletes for the use of names and likeness in business ventures from which the NCAA profits. This time around, the plaintiffs are seeking damages that reports say could reach into the billions of dollars.

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