Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Personal Foul: The Exploitation Of Ncaa Student-Athletes’ Publicity Rights, Jordan Pamlanye

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

In 2017, Donald De La Haye, a Division I football player for the University of Central Florida of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”), was deemed ineligible for NCAA participation due to his successful YouTube channel, “Deestroying.” De La Haye was a kicker for the University of Central Florida’s (“UCF”) football team. At the time, his YouTube channel had over 90,000 subscribers and almost 5,000,000 views. The NCAA found De La Haye ineligible because he was compensated for videos that included aspects of his life as an NCAA athlete—a violation of the NCAA bylaws.

The consequences of this decision …

Cutting Out The Middleman: Why "Look And Feel" Should Be Ignored In Trade Dress Law, Nicholas Dimarino

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Part I of this Note discusses the background and elements of general trade dress law. Part II discusses the narrower issue of "look and feel" in the context of websites and outlines how courts have currently addressed the "look and feel" issue. Part III proposes that courts ignore the artificial "look and feel" distinction and instead apply normal trade dress analyses and elements. This solution, which requires that courts adhere to a workable standard that serves the underlying purpose of trade dress law, allows recognition of the distinctive characteristics of website trade dress claims, while reducing the risk of …