U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas yesterday
granted a summary judgment in favor of the NFLPA and Players
Inc in their litigation with Gridiron.com. The court found
that Gridiron.com's Web site, which uses the names,
likenesses and other attributes of NFL players, including
players who had previously assigned their group licensing
rights to the NFLPA, violated the NFLPA's group licensing
rights. The court added that Gridiron.com's contracts with
those NFL players also violated the NFLPA's licensing
rights. The Court permanently enjoined Gridiron.com from
using six or more player images on its Web site and also
permanently enjoined Gridiron.com from entering into
contracts with players under contract with the NFLPA. The
NFLPA and Players Inc have filed similar lawsuits against
AthletesDirect and BigPros.com (Players Inc). Players Inc
pays a royalty to the NFLPA for "exclusive player licensing
rights," and the court ruled those rights were violated by
Gridiron.com's Web site. Players Inc President & NFLPA
Assistant Exec Dir Doug Allen: "This was an important case
for us." Gridiron.com reps "declined comment" (AP, 7/12).
SEEKING WEB CONTROL: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Wienbach
& White report on the "aggressive efforts" of sports teams
to "crack down hard on those who commandeer their logos or
counterfeit their merchandise. ... [And] raising the stakes
in the battle is the Internet." Sports attorney Barry Brett
says the NBA's lawsuit against the N.Y. Times for selling
NBA photos on its N.Y. Times Online Store (see THE DAILY,
7/11) is "a way for the NBA to show that it plans to control
all aspects of distribution" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/12).
