C.B.C. Distribution and Marketing, Inc. v. Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P.
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
505 F.3d 818 (8th Cir. 2007)
After its license to use player names and statistics for fantasy baseball products expired, C.B.C. (plaintiff) continued operating its fantasy baseball business using players' names and public statistical information; the players' union had since granted an exclusive license for that same information to Major League Baseball Advanced Media (defendant), which counterclaimed that C.B.C.'s continued use violated the players' rights of publicity under Missouri law. C.B.C. sought a declaratory judgment that it could use the information without a license, the district court granted C.B.C. summary judgment, and Advanced Media and the players' union appealed.
Whether First Amendment protections for the use of publicly available factual information can override an individual's state-law right of publicity when the information used is a matter of significant public interest and implicates no significant economic or non-economic concerns.