Federal Appeals Court Upholds Settlement Over NFL's Image Use

A federal appeals court today upheld the settlement of a class action lawsuit against the NFL for allegedly using images of retirees without their permission. The case, Dryer v NFL, began in '09 and was settled in '13, creating a $42M fund for player charities and a licensing agency for the retirees. Several players appealed, including Fred Dryer, contending the settlement did not resolve the core issue of reimbursing them for their image rights. But the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals' three-judge panel ruled, "If the players' publicity rights are as valuable as (they) claim, the players should be able to realize the value of their publicity rights through the Licensing Agency."