Major League Baseball sued a fantasy sports company, basically for not having a licensing agreement. The company stood on firm constitutional ground. Judge Mary Ann Medler agreed.
What is very interesting is that while MLB initially responded by stating "We always agreed that the player names and statistics were in the public domain", instead arguing in the press that excessive use of logo's and other MLB trademarked material violated the league's right to publicity.
When reaching the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, however, they argued that fantasy sports violated the Player's rights to publicity - likening fantasy baseball to a retailer placing a players image on a coffee mug without paying a licensing fee.
The judging panel did not seem impressed with the argument - pointing out the fact that there was not a single affidavit from a player stating that they were harmed by fantasy baseball. We'll see what they come back with.
This is an interesting case of a business entity trying to reign in property rights. The leagues gained a lot by pushing player names out there to be recognized. Baseball cards and fantasy games increased the overall interest and popularity of these sports long before the internet came along.
They put it out there. People found a way to profit. Now the league wants it's cut. Unfortunately for them, these companies are all based on public and statistical information.
From the league's standpoint a better strategy would be to come up with their own fantasy offering; take over the market with it; and then shift the game to rely on league owned proprietary information. With enough marketshare, they certainly could do it. Microsoft did the same thing with Office and its more of a cash cow than Windows is.
Alternatively, they could have pushed out this lawsuit for a year or two and at least feasted on the FUD it created to press other fantasy sites for licensing fees - and maybe even quietly settled it before any decision was made.
While their legal strategy confuses me, there is one thing I do know. I was right about this from the beginning. :)
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