CBC v. MLB, E.D.Mo. (Aug. 8, 2006)

For those that have been following this case, the District Court on Tuesday, August 8, 2006, ruled in favor of CBC fantasy sports, and completely against MLB and the Player's Association. The court held that 1) fantasy sports are not a violation of players' rights of publicity; 2) even if fantasy sports were a violation of the right of publicity, that right is preempted by the First Amendment; 3) player names and statistics are not copyrightable; and 4) similar to patents and trademarks, when a copyright license is deemed to cover material that is not copyrightable, prohibitive clauses that remain once the contract is terminated are against public policy and therefore void.

The only remaining question: will MLB appeal?