Student-Athlete NIL: Federal and State Legislative Updates and Disparities, Litigation Trends, Use of School's IP, Pay-to-Play
Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
- work Practice Area
Trademark and Copyright
- event Date
Thursday, June 23, 2022
- schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- timer Program Length
90 minutes
-
This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
-
This CLE webinar will guide counsel to companies, universities, and student-athletes on name, image, and likeness (NIL) developments. The panel will discuss legislative updates and litigation trends and address pay-to-play concerns and issues related to using a university's IP. The panel will also discuss lessons from the first year of NIL and how the recent developments and lessons inform counsel going forward.
Mr. Benjamin’s practice focuses on advertising, privacy, and technology transactions, in areas where traditional and digital media converge, and where evolving distribution platforms and data gathering tools push the boundaries of intellectual property rights, privacy, technology, and content. He regularly advises clients small and large, from multinational corporations to start-up ventures, across numerous industries including retail, fashion, gaming, telecommunications, cosmetics, food and beverage, consumer products, and technology. Mr. Benjamin regularly negotiates technology and commercial contracts, including advertising industry contracts such as agency-client deals, brand licensing, promotion, native advertising, celebrity talent, endorsement, influencer, and sponsorship agreements, as well as technology contracts such as website development agreements, programmatic media transactions, email marketing and list rental, software development, and hosting agreements. He also has an extensive and varied counseling practice, advising on the structure of and reviewing advertising and marketing campaigns, and drafting terms and conditions for all forms of marketing and promotion initiatives, including sweepstakes, online, mobile, and app games, skill contests, social media engagement, fantasy sports, email, text messaging, and charitable marketing and co-venture programs. Mr. Benjamin is a frequent speaker on advertising, marketing, privacy, and emerging media issues, and has written articles in many different publications.
Mr. Edel is a recognized leader in sports and colleges and universities, teams, and leagues regularly seek his advice. He also advises and represents companies, boards, and C-Suite officers on employment, antitrust, licensing matters and disputes, intellectual property matters, and other contractual disputes and has successfully tried and arbitrated dozens of cases. Mr. Edel is a highly sought-after speaker on sports issues and also writes on sports issues, including NIL, gambling, gender equity, discrimination, antitrust, and labor issues. He teaches Sports Law at Columbia Law School and Antitrust law at Brooklyn Law School.
Mr. Winter is recognized as a leading college athlete name, image, and likeness lawyer and is sought out by clients and the media for this expertise. In addition to his commercial litigation and transactional practice, he has unique and broad experience assisting college athletes, universities, conferences, and college athletics-related businesses with their legal needs. Mr. Winter represents universities, college athletes, and related businesses in a wide variety of litigation and transactional matters. This includes acting as a name, image, and likeness attorney for universities, businesses, and college athletes who are preparing for and taking advantage of NIL deals and opportunities.
In 2015, the Ninth Circuit changed the playing field for student-athletes when it held that NCAA rules prohibiting the athletes from leveraging their NIL for financial compensation violate federal antitrust laws. Last year, in June 2021, the Supreme Court unanimously held that the NCAA's prohibition of the payment of "other educational benefits," a form of pay to play, violated the antitrust laws. As a result, the NCAA changed its policy to permit athletes who receive NIL payment to maintain NCAA eligibility, but in its new Constitution has maintained a prohibition on pay to play.
Currently, 28 states have adopted student-athlete NIL laws. More states have proposed or pending legislation. However, not all state laws are the same. As a result, these differences have led to disparities within the athletic conferences and given some universities an advantage in recruiting athletes.
Similarly, some schools have adopted policies that reward athletes who maintain their eligibility and a certain GPA. There is no federal legislation yet. Several bills have been proposed but have stalled in committee. Consequently, the restrictions and permitted NIL activities vary from state to state and school to school. Further, questions remain about how the NCAA will enforce its policy.
As state laws, litigation, enforcement, and NCAA policy continue to evolve, athletes, universities, donors, and sponsors must be flexible so they can adapt when circumstances change.
Listen as our authoritative panel of IP attorneys examines the recent NIL developments, including legislative updates and litigation trends. The panel will also address pay-to-play concerns and issues related to using a university's IP. The panel will discuss lessons from the first year of NIL and how the recent developments and lessons inform counsel going forward.
- NIL developments
- Legislative updates
- Litigation trends
- Pay-to-play concerns
- Using a university's IP and associated issues
- Best practices
The panel will review these and other key issues:
- How has the playing field changed for a student-athlete's ability to endorse goods and services?
- What action have states taken to address the changes with the leveraging of NIL?
- How may colleges and universities work with donors, athletes, and sponsors in this new legal environment?
- What lessons can counsel take away from the recent changes in NIL and apply going forward?
Related Courses
Geographical Indications to Protect IP: Overcoming Challenges in Registering and Enforcing GIs
Wednesday, November 5, 2025
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
Structuring Trademark Clearance Opinions
Available On-Demand
Demonstrating Use in Commerce for Trademark Registration and Enforcement
Available On-Demand
Comparative Advertising: Avoiding Trademark Infringement, Disparagement
Available On-Demand