Heitner Legal
On January 21, 2021, The Topps Company, Inc. tweeted, “We captured the Presidential Inauguration action #ToppsNOW style!” with a link to a “full slate” of new cards featuring various prominent celebrities and politicians who took part in the inauguration of President Joe Biden. The most popular card was and undoubtedly will be one of Bernie […]
October 29, 2019 will either be remembered as the day that the NCAA signified a major shift in its position on whether college athletes should receive compensation in exchange for the commercial use of their names, images and likenesses, or it won’t. The bottom-line is that it is far too early to tell what the […]
What does the termination of a contract do to certain intellectual property rights that were granted, in perpetuity, from one party to another within that document? A recent ruling in the U.S. Southern District of New York can be instructive on this issue.
Is it true that no one can own a dance step? That is what video game publisher Epic Games is arguing in a motion to dismiss that it filed on February 11 in a federal case that was brought by Terrence “2 Milly” Ferguson.
The following article was written by Benjamin Haynes, Esq. In 2009, former Rutgers quarterback, Ryan Hart, filed a lawsuit against Electronic Arts (E.A.) for violation of his right of publicity. Specifically, Hart stated that E.A. misappropriated his likeness for use in the NCAA Football video game in order to enhance the commercial value of the video […]
Here is a sample definition of likeness – name, silhouette, personality, appearance, performance, depiction, portrayal, photograph and voice. It is an integral definition in many licensing agreements where one party hopes to be able to exploit the other party, usually for a hefty fee. What if you were not entitled to just compensation for the […]
Very talented athletes stand to make more money from off field/court/ice/etc. activities than what they earn based on performing in the trade that they are truly qualified. Agents, attorneys, and marketers attempt to find and negotiate these deals for their athlete clients. Often times, those deals are licensing agreements, or at least contain provisions that […]