Daniels v. FanDuel, Inc.

The Supreme Court accepted a certified question from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and answered that online fantasy sports operators that condition entry to contests on payment and distribute cash prizes do not violate the Indiana right of publicity statute when those organizations use the names, pictures, and statistics of players without their consent.At issue was Indiana’s right of publicity statute, Ind. Code 32-36-1-8(a), which provides that “a person may not use an aspect of a personality’s right of publicity for a commercial purpose…without having obtained previous written consent.” Plaintiffs, collegiate student althetes, filed this class action complaint alleging that Defendants, DraftKings, Inc. and FanDuel, Inc., used their names and likenesses in operating online fantasy sports contest without their consent, in violation of their right of publicity. The district court dismissed the suit. Plaintiffs appealed, and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals certified a question of Indiana law to the Supreme Court. The Court answered that Indiana’s right of publicity statute contains an exception for “material that has newsworthy value” that includes online fantasy sports operators’ use of college players’ names, pictures, and statistics for online fantasy sports. View "Daniels v. FanDuel, Inc." on Justia Law