O’Bannon v. NCAA
The Reporters Committee jjoined a media amicus brief in a case involving payment disputes between the NCAA and its student athletes. The athletes contend that they have a right of publicity in the live broadcast, or re-broadcast, of any game in which they play, meaning that broadcasters must negotiate with them for rights regardless of what rights they obtain from a school or conference. The amicus brief argues that such an outcome would be a dramatic shift in the definition of publicity rights that would interfere with the media’s ability to air matters of public interest, and is not the proper way to resolve the dispute over whether college athletes should be paid. The brief was written by Nathan Siegel and Celeste Phillips of Levine Sullivan Koch and Schulz, and