CBS Sues NFL Players' Union Over Fantasy Football Licensing

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 8, 2008 - 11:40am.

Minneapolis - CBS (NYSE: CBS) last week filed a lawsuit against the NFL Players Association, asking a federal judge to clarify usage rights for the statistics used in fantasy football leagues, the Associated Press reported.

In its complaint, CBS alleges that the players' association has demanded that the network continue to pay licensing fees for the use of game statistics, and threatened to sue if it doesn't.

A federal appeals court in June ruled that fantasy sports league providers do not have to pay the Major League Baseball Players Association to use publicly-available baseball game statistics -- and the Supreme Court refused to review the matter.

According to the Sports Business Journal, CBS paid $1.49 million in licensing fees to the NFLPA in the fiscal year ended Feb. 29, citing the union's filing with the U.S. Labor Department.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/3obi1 (AP)

http://snipurl.com/3obi8 (PaidContent)

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=454045

http://www.nflplayers.com