Sports & Entertainment Beat

On Thursday, the NCAA Board of Directors voted to allow Notre Dame and the top five conferences in Division I - Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific-12 and Southeastern Conferences (collectively known as the “Big 5”), to create their own rules in the following 11 areas affecting student athletes (the “Autonomy Measures”):

• Athletics Personnel;

• Insurance and Career Transition;

• Career Pursuits Unrelated to Athletics;

• Recruiting Restrictions;

• Pre-Enrollment Expenses and Support;

• Financial Aid;

• Awards, Benefits and Expenses;

• Academic Support;

• Health and Wellness;

• Meals and Nutrition; and

• Time Demands.

The decision of a Los Angeles probate judge on Monday, July 28, 2014, provides a glimpse into the private lives of owners of an NBA franchise.

Judge Michael Levanas, in the Sterling Family Trust matter, evaluated the testimony of both Shelly Sterling and Donald Sterling, found Mrs. Sterling to be more credible and issued a tentative oral ruling giving her authority to move forward with the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Mrs. Sterling entered into the sale as the sole trustee of the Sterling Family Trust.

YouTube Music Pass, the new Google-owned music service, has indicated that it intends to block content from independent labels that have not signed up for its subscription music service from its current free service.  YouTube Music Pass is a new streaming service that will allow people to download music to their mobile devices and watch and listen to music videos without ads, even when not online.  On June 17th, YouTube’s head of content and business operations, Robert Kyncl, confirmed that independent artists could disappear from YouTube if their labels do not sign up for the new service.

Many unsigned or independent music artists struggle to finance studio time, recording an album, touring the country or even promoting their music locally.  The struggle can push some artists to treat their talents like a hobby or even give up the dream of performing professionally. Others work full- or part-time jobs to raise the money themselves while playing small gigs for little pay. Some industrious artists use crowdfunding websites to raise the capital necessary to fund their talent.

After three extensions and close to two months of negotiations, SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (“AMPTP”), a trade association of Hollywood’s largest production companies, reached a tentative deal on a new three year master contract covering film and television on Friday, July 4, 2014.  The negotiations were led by Carol Lombardini for AMPTP and David White for SAG-AFTRA and resulted in a new 2014 Producers-SAG-AFTRA Codified Basic Agreement and an industry-wide 2014 SAG-AFTRA Television Agreement (together, the “Agreement”).

In a 2-1 ruling last Wednesday, June 18, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) resolved an opposition proceeding in favor of five Native American plaintiffs who sought to cancel six trademark registrations that contain the word REDSKINS and are owned by Pro Football, Inc., the owners of the National Football League’s Washington, D.C. team.

Website owners are battling or quietly settling an increasing number of copyright infringement claims for images posted without permission.  To avoid such claims, webmasters should be careful to make sure they have the proper permission from the copyright owner.  Just because an image is on the Internet and easy to cut and paste from another website, Facebook, Twitter, or other social media sites does not mean it can be re-used without permission. Images are protected even if they do not display the symbol ©. Save yourself headaches and legal fees by first going through the proper channels to obtain the clearances you need to use others’ images.  This article focuses on copyright issues but depending on how a photograph is used on your website, other permissions may be needed.  For example, publicity rights laws may require that you obtain permission from the people in the photograph, and trademark laws may require permission from the owner of any logo or branding appearing in the photo.

Professional athletes spend considerable time working with sports equipment.  Baseball players, for example, use different types of shoes, various protective equipment (such as helmets), devices to block the sun (such as bills of hats), and devices to otherwise improve performance (such as batting gloves to better grip a bat).  In part because of the time they spend using such equipment, and the time they spend on a field or court in front of a large crowd, not to mention the impact equipment can have on their athletic careers, professional athletes can recognize the desire for improved equipment to meet a need and can envision such improvements.  In at least a few situations, professional athletes have conceived of new ideas and have applied for and received patent protection for their inventions.

Billboard, the leader in the music industry for charting top artists and music, has partnered with Twitter and unveiled two new charts this week - the Billboard Twitter Trending 140 and the Billboard Twitter Emerging Artists.  Since its inception, Billboard has regularly developed new charts in response to changes in the music industry, specifically in the way that fans interact with and consume music.  According to Mashable, music is the most discussed topic on Twitter, with around one billion music-related tweets in 2013.

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) ruled on March 26, 2014 that Northwestern University football players who receive scholarships from the University are employees of the University and are eligible to unionize.

The NLRB cited several reasons for its decision, including that the University benefits from the players’ services through the compensation it receives for those services in the form of advertising, sponsorships, media buys, ticket sales, etc.  Additionally, it found that the University controls how and when the players perform their services and that these football players receive compensation for their services in the form of scholarships. The NLRB determined that football players receiving scholarships from the University are not “primarily students” and that their activities are rather economic ones that benefit the school.