Posts in Copyright
2019 Sports Law Hot Topics to Watch

The annual January tradition I know y’all look forward to is here - my predictions on what will be the hottest of the sports law hot topics! I settled on selecting six topics this year, and I must say, it was wonderfully hard to narrow down the list because there is a lot of meat we will get to digest over the next 12 months. (Disclaimer: I think #1 will be the hottest of the hot, but that may be my bias talking since that is one of my main wheelhouses!)

That said, I would also like to remind those of you who may be newly acquainted with the concept of “sports law” that, in all honesty, there is technically no such thing as “sports law,” per se. Rather, what a handful of attorneys and I do is specialize in understanding and zealously advocate to resolve diverse legal issues that take place within the sports industry because the law often treats sports in a special way relative to pretty much every other industry out there.

Keep reading for a brief descriptions of each topic’s current status, why I am including it on this list, and a few Twitter handles to follow for the latest news and analysis throughout the year:

Read More
4 Ways Copyright Law Works with Respect to College Fight Songs

With college football season comes renewed school spirit! Sing that fight song loud and proud through the campus streets or at the stadiums, and hum it all you want, but the law is always at play and explains a lot about why things are the way they are. Here are four ways copyright law interacts with the songs that truly ring clear in the collegiate athletics hype scene.

Read More
What You Should Know About the Online "Fan-to-Fan" Ticket Marketplace

One of my friends asked me about a story she read involving a Kobe fan who bought tickets on StubHub to the Lakers' last home game of the season before Kobe announced his retirement. (Thank you, Angelic!) After the fan bought the tickets, the seller claimed to have typed the price incorrectly after Kobe announced his retirement and the price for comparable tickets skyrocketed. The seller canceled, relisted, and resold those same tickets. In the end, StubHub tried to find comparable tickets but came up short for the Kobe fan, and the Kobe fan was furious at how a giant like StubHub could play a role in such an injustice so nonchalantly.

The fan and the writer who posted the fan's story believe this is not right, though they use other words to get their point across. My friend asked me, "Is this legal?" My answer is a little long because the online secondary ticket market is full of complications, but the short answer is "Yes, this is legal from the online secondary ticket platform's stance."

With the convenience of this market comes risks for both buyers and sellers. Here are a few points y'all should be aware of to better understand how this market operates, what kind of role it plays in the sports industry, and why it is legal - however unfair it seems on the surface - for StubHub to handle the Kobe fan's situation the way it did.

Read More