The Case, NBA vs. Motorola Inc.
The NBA vs. Motorola Inc. is a lawsuit filed by the National Basketball Association (NBA) against Motorola Inc. in 1996. In this case, NBA alleged that the instant transmission of sports information by Motorola infringed on NBA’s exclusive right of ownership of the games’ results and any other statistical information (NBA v. Motorola, Inc., 1997). The plaintiff argued that the respondent infringed on its right to exclusively own and broadcast the games. In its submission, the NBA alleged that the games were original works of authorship and it was the only entity with the legal right to reproduce and market the games.
Copyrightable Features
Three are several features of athlete profiles and information on how they perform that can be considered to be covered under the copyright laws. In Basketball, the most likely athlete profiles to be copyrighted are the player’s names, photographs, nicknames, signatures, and the biographical data, which all together identify the player. Most basketball players under the NBA enjoy celebrity status therefore, their names and photographs can be regarded as copyrightable characteristics of their profiles (Dehesa et al., 2019). Basketball players have a higher standing in the society and are looked upon as role models. Consequently, their autobiographic data can be considered as part of their profiles is copyrightable. Because of the high social status occupied by basketball players in the NBA, their signature and nicknames are likely to be considered as copyrightable. Player signatures and nicknames are unique to specific players; therefore, their unauthorized use could imply an infringement of their right of identity. Furthermore, demographic information in the player profile such as age, height, and weight can be considered to be covered by laws on copyright.
The athlete’s statistical data, such as the total number of baskets and rebounds converted per game are performance statistics that can be regarded as copyrightable. The statistical performance information varies from one player to the other. The statistics on player performance is developed over a time during which the player demonstrates his or her prowess in the game (Dehesa et al., 2019). The statistical information would be considered copyrightable because the players put in a lot of effort to develop a statistic that makes them stand out from the rest. The statistical information on the number of games played and fouls committed can be copyrightable.
Related Issues in the Future
With its continued popularity of fantasy sports around the world, several sports association such as the NBA will be concerned about how this fan-based game affects their games (NBA v. Motorola, Inc., 1997). Fantasy sports involves prize money for the winner, thus in future, fantasy sports companies are likely to face more legal suits from players who their stake after playing the games. Fantasy sport has become very popular around the world with a remarkable influence on the entire sporting world. Associations managing other sporting disciplines such as soccer are likely to sue fantasy sports companies for illegal usage of players’ profiles and statistical performance in their games. Fantasy sports companies are likely to be scrutinized more in the future to prevent malpractices among the employees. Consequently, some of these companies are going to be sued for failing to comply with the regulations governing their operations. Furthermore, due to the likeliness of fantasy sports and gambling, the former is likely to be sued for its inability to protect its clients from the adverse effects of gambling.
Conclusion
The NBA vs. Motorola Inc. case, the respondent was not liable for violating the legal right to ownership of the games as alleged by the plaintiff because athletics does not qualify to be covered by the laws on copyright. However, there were some athlete details and match appearance data that could be regarded as being covered by the law on copyright.
References
Dehesa, R., Vaquera, A., Gomez-Ruano, M. A., Gonçalves, B., Mateus, N., & Sampaio, J. (2019). KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS IN NBA PLAYERS’PERFORMANCE PROFILES. Kinesiology, 51(1), 92-101.
The case NBA v. Motorola, Inc. 105 F.3d 841 (2d Cir. 1997). Retrieved from: https://repository.jmls.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1232&context=jitpl