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Judges Consider Fantasy Baseball Suit

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Los Angeles Times

Published: June 2, 2008

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court justices were spending part of their time last week on fantasy baseball, but not because they were bored with the legal work. Rather, the justices were deciding whether to take up a billion-dollar dispute over whether for-profit, fantasy games on the Internet have a free-speech right to use the names and performance statistics of famous athletes.

If the justices vote to hear the appeal from Major League Baseball, the outcome could have a far-reaching effect. If the justices were to rule that fantasy sports games have a free-speech right to use the names of famous players, it could cast doubt on some licensing deals for celebrities.

Even if the court simply lets stand the lower court's ruling in favor of free speech for the for-profit Web sites, it could encourage other Web sites to incorporate the use of famous people without permission.

It has been decades since the Supreme Court weighed a clash between the "right to publicity" and the right to free speech. Since then, the Internet has made it far easier for others to make money by using the names, faces and images of celebrities.

For now, the question is whether baseball players and their statistics are public knowledge and thus free to be used by all, or whether they remain the property of Major League Baseball.

An estimated 15 million people spend about $1.5 billion a year playing fantasy sports. Web-based companies charge $30 or more to join a fantasy league, and some games offer big cash prizes to the winners.

The legal dispute arose four years ago when Major League Baseball Advanced Media, which represents the players and owners, signed licensing deals for fantasy games with a few big companies, including Yahoo, ESPN, Fox Sports and CBS Sportsline. At the same time, MLB ended earlier deals with dozens of leagues, games and Web sites that had offered fantasy games.

One of the jilted providers, C.B.C. Distribution and Marketing in St. Louis, went to court and last year won a victory in the U.S. court of appeals there. The judges ruled that the fantasy-game provider had a First Amendment right to use the names and statistics of major league players.

The court may announce today whether it will hear the appeal.

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