Freeborn & Peters:
Freeborn & Peters IP attorney, Andrew Goldstein, refuted the class action filed against DraftKings and FanDuel by a former Northern Illinois football player:
“Andrew Goldstein, of the Chicago law firm Freeborn and Peters, said the lawsuit’s claim of putting players at risk of being pressured to become involved in game fixing is “a stretch.” He noted that because it’s legal to gamble on college sports, that already would be a possibility.
“The fact that it would cause speculators to contact them is irrelevant to the right of publicity claim,” he said.
Goldstein pointed to a case from June in Nashville, Tenn. in which the federal district court dismissed current and former college athletes claims that television networks, licensing businesses and NCAA conferences engaged in a conspiracy with the NCAA to create rules that would deprive the college athletes from compensation for the licensing and use of their names and likeness.
“The Tennessee court was very clear,” said Goldstein, who specializes in intellectual property. ” I would think that the same logic would apply to FanDuel (and DraftKings).”
Chicago Tribune, “Former NIU running back sues FanDuel, DraftKings for using name,” January 28, 2016