The Fantasy Football Saga Continues-Yahoo! Sues NFL Players Association Over Player Stats
 Extra! Extra! Read All About It: Fantasy Sports Goes Back to the Courts

On June 3, 2009 Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune writer Jenna Ross reported "Yahoo! Sues for fantasy football info." According to Ross's report, "In 2007, the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided that CBC Distribution and Marketing Inc. could use Major League Baseball players' names and statistics for its fantasy baseball products -- without paying a fee. The U.S. Supreme Court elected not to review the case." So the question is whether or not Yahoo!'s fantasy football lawsuit will play out like CBS's fantasy baseball case. One thing Yahoo! has in its favor, states Ross, is that the suit has been filed in Minnesota where U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery ruled against the NFL Players Association and for CBS.

Weigh In on the Validity or Stupidity of Yahoo!'s case: Can the NFL Players Association Triumph This Time?

The Fantasy Trade Association Speaks Out

In a statement to the Star Tribune host of Fantasy Football Weekly on KFAN Radio and president of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association Paul Charchian said, "These leagues have simply smelled money and tried to go after it any way they could." So is it true that the NFL Players Association is just simply out to tax fantasy sports enthusiasts or is there something more?

ProFootballTalk.com Explains More Details of the Fantasy Football Case

Mike Floria of ProFootballTalk.com posted this in the early morning on June 4, 2009, "Essentially, Yahoo! is seeking a judicial declaration that its intention to operate a fantasy football game in 2009 without paying fees to the NFLPA is legally appropriate. And, barring something unforeseen, Yahoo! likely will prevail." However, just a little more than four hours later Floria, after a deeper investigation of Yahoo!'s suit changed his tune. "And, as it turns out, the lawsuit attempts not only to utilize without compensation the names of the players, but also likenesses (including, without limitation, numbers), pictures, photographs, voices, facsimile signatures and/or biographical information (including but not limited to player statistics)," Floria writes in his post. "In our view, if Yahoo! wants to enhance the basic name-and-stats fantasy experience, Yahoo! probably should have to pay for the ability to use likenesses, pictures, voices, etc," he concludes.

Everyone is Talking About Fantasy Sports, Even Academia!

The Ludwig von Mises Institute is an intellectual hub with educational and research facilities located in Auburn Alabama, but even they are talking about the Yahoo! case. Mises Economics Blog contributor S.M. Oliva stated on June 4, 2009, "Not all intellectual property involves copyrights, patents, or trademarks. Many states recognize a 'right of publicity' that allows a person -- or in some cases a decedent's estate -- to control the use of one's name, likeness, and image for commercial purposes." Oliva then clarified the Yahoo! lawsuit's main question, "Are player names, information, and statistics the "intellectual property" of the players vis-à-vis the right of publicity?" So what will the answer be? Here are some things to consider:

--The First Amendment has been found to supplant the "right of publicity"

--The Federal copyright law may supersede the assertion that player names, stats and other info are the intellectual property of the NFLPA

--Sports leagues and Player's Associations have the right to build and market their own fantasy games if they wanted a larger piece of the market

--A player does not create individual statistics; stats are a quantification of events that have already occurred.

So what will the outcome be? We will just have to keep watching, but Oliva says it best, "Fantasy sports haven't taken away from the pie; they've made it bigger for everyone."

Steve Jones is a diehard sports enthusiast and has been his entire life. Football, basketball, baseball-he loves it all. Naturally, he also loves fantasy sports and is currently writes for the fantasy football web site http://www.Stinkball.com.