In Bloomberg Law, IP Litigator Analyzes NCAA Student-Athlete Right of Publicity Changes

In a Bloomberg Law article published on Dec. 20, IP litigation counsel Evan Gourvitz (New York) examined how the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the state of California have proposed reforms to allow college student-athletes to get compensated for the use of their images. 

Mr. Gourvitz explains that if and when the reforms take effect in a few years, student-athletes should be able to exploit their rights of publicity in the same manner as professional athletes, and get paid for the use of their names and images for commercial purposes. 

Among other things, he notes that because of the complexities of the right of publicity and other legal issues involved, there hasn’t been an authorized college football video game since 2013, when EA Sports released NCAA Football 14. But once these reforms go through, there very well may be a duly-authorized and licensed NCAA Football 2021, and the NCAA, the college sports industry, the players, their schools, and video gamers all may stand to benefit.