CBS Interactive Suing NFLPA Over Fantasy Football Licensing

By Eric Fisher, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

CBS Interactive Claiming NFLPA Wrongly Seeking Fantasy Football Licensing Fees

CBS SEEKS VARIOUS REMEDIES: CBS Interactive in the lawsuit seeks a variety of remedies, including a declaratory judgment that places its First Amendment rights above the union's rights of publicity, similar to the core of the CDM rulings; a declaration that the union is in violation of the Sherman Act; a judgment enjoining the union from interfering with its fantasy sports business; and any actual and treble damages and legal fees. CBS officials declined to comment, citing company policy on pending litigation. Industry sources said the lawsuit was designed largely to get out on the offensive with the union, as opposed to waiting for a lawsuit staged in a potentially unfriendly legal jurisdiction. To that end, CBS Interactive filed the lawsuit in Minnesota so as to stay within the Eighth Circuit for the U.S. Court of Appeals, the venue for the original appeal on the CDM case, as well as an area deemed relatively friendly to the First Amendment.

NFLPA YET TO COMMENT: The NFLPA, which filed amicus briefs in support of MLBAM and MLBPA in the CDM case, also did not comment. But earlier this year, Andy Feffer, NFL Players Exec VP & COO, said, "We feel very strongly we retain intellectual property rights in this area even after what happened at the Supreme Court. I'm certain that anyone really looking at the category doesn't believe or think that [CDM] is the law of the land or that this is completely closed." To aid with the case, CBS Interactive has hired St. Louis-based intellectual property attorney Rudy Telscher, lead counsel for CDM.

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