Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Commons^™

Public Means Public: A Call For Amendment Of The Copyright Act Of 1976'S Public Display Right To Immunize Private Businesses From Unintentional Infringement, Lucy Greaney

Et Cetera

Private businesses increasingly face copyright liability and burdensome licensing fees under the Public Display Provision of the Copyright Act of 1976, despite engaging in activities that cannot be truly considered public. This Note examines the historical development of the Public Display Provision, analyzes case law involving public accommodations and semi-private entities, and explores the intersection between copyright enforcement and U.S. antitrust principles. It argues that Congress did not intend for private, employee-only business settings to fall within the scope of the Public Display Provision and that the current enforcement regime enables anticompetitive licensing practices by performing rights organizations. To resolve …

You Better Werk: The Viability Of A Labor Union For The Cast Of Rupaul’S Drag Race, Brandon Stump

Cleveland State Law Review

Reality television cast members are poorly compensated, working under tremendously restrictive and controlling contracts. While actors and writers who are members of the Screen Actors Guild of America and the Screen Writers Guild of America have collectively bargained with studios for better wages, terms, and conditions of employment, contestants on reality television series have gone it alone – auditioning for a series and having no choice other than to accept the contract provided by the studios. In December 2024, at the end of the Biden administration, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filed a complaint on behalf of the reality …

Catch Me If You Can Claim Copyright Infringement: How Copyright Law Unevenly Protects Novice Scriptwriters, Alexander Cole Dibucci

Global Business Law Review

In the realm of creative endeavors, novice scriptwriters often find themselves in a precarious position, highly susceptible to having their original work exploited for profit by formidable players in the industry, drawing a parallel to the timeless tale of David versus Goliath. In these all-too common scenarios, the multi-million-dollar film agencies that, reminiscent of Goliath, appropriate the creative fruits of amateurs striving to establish their names in the field. Regrettably, unlike the triumphant David from the biblical narrative, novice scriptwriters are frequently left without adequate protection within the legal landscape of the United States, where the scales tend to tip …

Comics Art, Cultural Norms, And The Social Consciousness Of Activism In American Democracy, Jeffrey Lewis

Cleveland State Law Review

The comic art form’s impact on cultural norms can engender new understandings of rights and shape conceptions of equality in our shared consciousness as a society. Drawing on the 1960s era of social change, this Article examines how comics can produce activism by shaping cultural norms which are reframed, contested, or contextualized to help generate new shared understandings of rights and equality in American democracy. The comic art form should be taken seriously as a medium for activism that can influence changes in social consciousness, illustrated in this Article with examples as diverse as the quiet revolution of the Peanuts …

Rolling The Dice On The Legality Of Gambling Devices: Why "Purpose" Has A Purpose, Stevie Holbrook

Cleveland State Law Review

Section 1955 of the United States Code (“Section 1955”), the federal law detailing prohibition on illegal gambling businesses, renders a defendant susceptible to prosecution if they are found to have violated the respective state’s gambling law and have a certain amount of people involved for a certain length of time. Today, the Sixth Circuit has identified Section 1955 as a general intent statute where it need not be shown that a defendant acted willfully in terms of intentionally violating state law. However, Ohio’s state gambling law has been interpreted as a specific intent statute that requires a purposeful act and, …

Increasing Competition In Live Music: The Case For Better Enforcement Of The Live Nation Entertainment Consent Decree, Tj Hunt

Cleveland State Law Review

In 2009, Live Nation and Ticketmaster Entertainment expressed their intent to merge to become Live Nation Entertainment. Before the merger, Ticketmaster Entertainment was the leading live music ticketing and marketing company. Live Nation was the leading producer of live music events. Live Nation also entered the primary ticket sales market and led merchandising at its entertainment venues. Antitrust concerns arose that this newly formed entity would be a near-monopoly in live music. Despite general antitrust concerns and lawsuits from consumers, smaller promoters, seventeen state attorneys general, and the Department of Justice (“DOJ"), Live Nation Entertainment agreed to a consent decree …

The Minor Leagues Strike Out: The Legal Issues Arising From Leaving Certain Minor League Teams On The Bench In Major League Baseball's Revamped Minor League System, Jakob Siegfried

Et Cetera

Minor league baseball is an essential part of the sport of baseball. However, Major League Baseball has forever changed the sport through its reorganization of the minor leagues. As part of this reorganization plan, forty-three minor league teams lost their affiliation to the major leagues. MLB has justified this plan by stating they want to improve working conditions for minor leaguers by improving stadium facilities and travel conditions. Still, losing an affiliation is a major blow to teams financially, and minor league team owners had little power to stop the reorganization plan from happening because of the imbalance of power …

The Evolution Of Data In Sports Betting And Its Legal Ramifications On The Privacy And Protections Of College Athletes, Bryan B. Fisher

Et Cetera

Have you ever placed a sports bet before? Did you win… or did you lose? Did it come down to the final seconds… or did you regret your decision before the game even reached halftime? At times, betting on a sports team can seem like a sure-fire win. Unfortunately, it can be nearly impossible to truly know a result before it happens, especially in the sports industry, where a simple bad bounce can alter the final score, effectively causing millions of dollars to change hands. But what if there was a way to know something about the game that others …

Concussions And Contracts: The National Football League's Limitations To Protecting Its Players From Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, Julia Wolpert

Journal of Law and Health

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative brain injury that has become prevalent among high-contact professional sports, especially American football. More and more retired players are exhibiting symptoms of CTE and being diagnosed with CTE post-mortem. While the neuroscience community constantly releases studies showing a causal connection between brain trauma and CTE, the National Football League (NFL) continues to deny that any brain injury can arise from playing football. The NFL must implement provisions in their contracts to fully inform and protect players from this lethal brain injury. This article examines the repercussions of CTE, how players’ contracts do and …

The Bell Has Rung: Answering The Door For Student-Athlete Concussion Issues In The National Collegiate Athletic Association, Aaron Caputo

Journal of Law and Health

This Note examines the NCAA's unwillingness to enforce the requirement that all NCAA institutions must implement a concussion management plan; the NCAA's refusal to apply its appropriate enforcement mechanism when member institutions violate their concussion management plans, which are instituted in order to protect student-athletes from concussions; how both of these failures result in more concussions and a higher probability of debilitating long-term effects; and solutions to remedy this grave injustice. Part II describes what a concussion is, the long-term effects of concussions, the NCAA's management of concussions, and lawsuits challenging the NCAA in relation to concussions. Part III analyzes …

The Visual Artists Rights Act's "Recognized Stature" Provision: A Case For Repeal, Drew Thornley

Cleveland State Law Review

Using as a case study the recent “5Pointz” litigation, a case involving visual artists’ moral-rights claims to graffiti they drew on a piece of private property in Queens, New York, this article examines the threat that Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA)’s grant to visual artists of the right “to prevent any destruction of a work of recognized stature” poses to common-law property and contract rights. This article advances the argument that the default legal rule should be that the rights of property owners (real or personal), including the right to destroy such properties, trump any moral rights that visual artists …

Regulated Sports Betting: Ohio's Chance To Take A Bet On Itself, Robert Porter

Cleveland State Law Review

It is estimated that more than $150 billion is wagered on sporting events each year in the United States. Of this, only an estimated $4.5 billion is wagered legally. Why is that? Because of a federal statute (PASPA) prohibiting state sponsored sports betting, people had to resort to offshore sports gambling websites and illegal bookies. This all changed in May 2018, when the Supreme Court declared PASPA unconstitutional, effectively lifting the ban on sports betting nationwide. With states now capable of enacting their own sports gambling schemes and regulations, Ohio is in a prime position to capitalize. I advocate for …

Rights On Publicity As Remarkably Insignificant, R. George Wright

Cleveland State Law Review

This Article introduces the right of publicity through a brief consideration of high-profile cases involving, respectively, Paris Hilton, human cannonball Hugo Zacchini, and the famous actress Olivia de Havilland. With this background understanding, the Article considers the supposed risks to freedom of speech posed by recognizing rights of publicity in a private party. From there, the Article addresses the nagging concern that the publicity rights cases promote a harmful "celebrification" of culture. Finally, the Article considers whether allowing for meaningful damage recoveries in publicity rights cases appropriately compensates victims in ways promoting the broad public interest.

You Play Ball Like A Girl: Cultural Implications Of The Contact Sports Exemption And Why It Needs To Be Changed, Michelle Margaret Smith

Cleveland State Law Review

Women in the United States have historically earned significantly less income per year compared to their male counterparts. In 2014, the pay discrepancy was at its lowest point with women earning seventy-nine cents per every dollar men earned. This discrepancy exists even though women now attain college degrees at a higher rate than men and make up 47% of the labor force. In sports, the pay discrepancy is even greater. At the professional level, women earn as little as 1.2% of what their male counterparts earn. This Note addresses how changing the contact sports exemption in Title IX to allow …

Bridging The Ncaa's Accident Insurance Coverage Gaps? A Deep Dive Into The Uncertainties Of Injury Coverage In College Contact Sports, And The Impact That Has On Athletes' Future Physical And Financial Comfort, Nicole Kline

Journal of Law and Health

This Note analyzes the flaws in the NCAA’s current accidental injury health coverage policies for student-athletes and suggests ways to remedy the issues that plague student-athletes incurring serious injuries that may not be covered under current policies. Part I of this Note outlines the history of the NCAA and the policies relevant to the issues with accidental injury coverage currently in place. Part II looks at the significance of these coverage gaps in today’s world of modern medicine and technology as well as the impact they have on the everyday life of college athletes. Part III suggests solutions to bridge …

Talking Foreign Policy: Art, Diplomacy And Accountability, Milena Sterio, Mark Ellis, Shannon French, Bill Schabas, Paul R. Williams, Michael P. Scharf

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Talking Foreign Policy is a one-hour radio program, hosted by Case Western Reserve University School of Law Co-Dean Michael Scharf, in which experts discuss the salient foreign policy issues of the day. Dean Scharf created Talking Foreign Policy to break down complex foreign policy topics that are prominent in the day-to-day news cycles yet difficult to understand.

This broadcast featured:

• Paul R. Williams, President and cofounder of the Public International Law & Policy Group, who has advised parties to treaty negotiations around the world
• Mark Ellis, Executive Director of the International Bar Association
• Bill Schabas, a professor at Middlesex University …

Brief Of Antitrust Scholars As Amici Curiae In Support Of Appellees, Supporting Affirmance, Chris Sagers, K. Craig Wildfang, Ryan W. Marth, David Martinez

Law Faculty Briefs and Court Documents

Amici urge affirmance for three principal reasons. First, we elaborate a point to dispel Appellant's suggestion that antitrust somehow does not belong here. Second, we show that ordinary rule of reason treatment was appropriate. Relying rather daringly on a case that it overwhelmingly lost, Appellant asks this Court to find within NCAA v. Board of Regents of Univ. of Okla., 468 U. S. 85 (1984), a rule that its "amateurism" or "eligibility" restraints are "valid...as a matter of law." NCAA Br. at 14, 22. Board of Regents did not say that, and even Appellant's own amici admit it. See Wilson …

O’Bannon V. National Collegiate Athletic Association: Why The Ninth Circuit Should Not Block The Floodgates Of Change In College Athletics, Christopher Sagers, Michael A. Carrier

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

In O’Bannon v. National Collegiate Athletic Ass’n, then-Chief Judge Claudia Wilken of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a groundbreaking decision, potentially opening the floodgates for challenges to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) amateurism rules. The NCAA was finally put to a full evidentiary demonstration of its amateurism defense, and its proof was found emphatically wanting. We agree with Professor Edelman that O’Bannon could bring about significant changes, but only if the Ninth Circuit affirms. We write mainly to address the NCAA’s vigorous pending appeal and the views of certain amici, and to explain our …

An Incomplete Pass: Inadequacies In Ohio's Youth Concussion Legislation And The Ongoing Risk For Players, Andrew J. Kane

Journal of Law and Health

Broadly, this paper questions whether Ohio’s recently enacted youth concussion legislation adequately addresses the public health issue of sport-related brain injury, and contends that it does not. To that end, it first addresses the significance of traumatic brain injuries, including concussions, explaining that the failure to protect youth athletes from these potentially fatal conditions has largely resulted from a lack of awareness of their influence on neurological functions, and of their potential to cause serious brain injury. Next, this paper examines several legislative responses enacted by other states, all of which were in place before Ohio’s, and compares the recently …

Will Uefa's Financial Fair Play Have Its Day In Court?, Kevin Mcconnell

In the Balance

No abstract provided.

What's All The Headache: Reform Needed To Cope With The Effects Of Concussions In Football, Erika A. Diehl

Journal of Law and Health

In order to effectively manage this public health concern, it is imperative to gain an understanding of the issues surrounding head injuries in sporting events. This Note will discuss the increasing frequency and dangers of concussions in amateur and professional football. It will suggest that athletes, schools, coaches, and doctors must become more educated on the causes and dangers of concussions in order to ensure the safety of participants. In order to do so, this Note introduces a medical overview of concussions, while briefly outlining the diagnosis, long-term effects, and management of concussions. Part III discusses the legal theories athletes …

Food For Sport Or Faustian Bargain: Regulating Performance Enhancing Dietary Supplements, Jennifer Kay Braman

Cleveland State Law Review

The defining line between legal and illegal substance-between dietary supplement and drug is horribly skewed. Accordingly, Part I of this Note will investigate the complexities that exist with regard to the classification and regulation of dietary supplements, looking at the history leading to the passage of the governing Dietary Health and Supplement Act of 1994. Part II will focus on supplements that consumers may use for performance enhancement purposes, and the regulation of sports products. Part III will look at the regulatory debate over dietary supplements, the andro product example and the interrelationship between drugs and sport. Part IV will …

Zoning Restrictions On Location Of Adult Businesses, Alan C. Weinstein

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

This year's report concentrates on recent legal developments concerning regulation of the location of "adult entertainment businesses." Such regulations raise serious constitutional issues because the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of expression extends to non-obscene sexually oriented media. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, has established that local government may single out adult businesses for special regulatory treatment in the form of locational restrictions if the local government can show a substantial public interest in regulating such businesses unrelated to the suppression of speech and if the regulations allow for "reasonable alternative avenues of communication," which essentially translates into a reasonable …

The Indians' Chief Problem: Chief Wahoo As State Sponsored Discrimination And A Disparaging Mark, Jack Achiezer Guggenheim

Cleveland State Law Review

This article traces the history of the Cleveland Indians and Chief Wahoo. It then suggests and assesses two methods by which the Chief Wahoo emblem may be legally challenged. The first method is to assert that Chief Wahoo, as used in Jacob's Field, is state sponsored discrimination. As such it could be challenged as a violation of equal protection or as racist speech. Alternatively, in addition to proving that the teams' actions should be deemed state actions, a new theory asserting that discriminatory state speech is a violation of the First Amendment could be advanced. Another method by which the …

Baseball And The Rule Of Law, Paul Finkelman

Cleveland State Law Review

Most cultures have a new year of some kind; a season of beginning. For lawyers who are baseball fans, there are two beginnings, two seasons. The first season begins in April, and begins to wind down in October. That is of course, the baseball season. But, with baseball finished, we can turn to the Court, and watch it with a keen eye. The Court's season continues to build to its climax in the Spring. Just as the baseball season is beginning its slow opening, the Court overwhelms us in the spring with what sometimes seems to be an avalanche of …

Is This The Bottom Of The Ninth For Baseball's Antitrust Exemption - A Proposed Removal Of The Exemption And Analysis Of Player Restraints In An Exemption-Free Environment, Brian F. Zeck

Cleveland State Law Review

This note will describe the creation and development of the antitrust exemption granted to Major League Baseball and the continuing vitality of that exemption with respect to labor relations. Part I will detail the creation of the antitrust exemption, the tests articulated by the Supreme Court to determine whether a particular industry violates the antitrust laws, an application of those tests to baseball, and the possibility of finally removing this exemption through legislation in order to bring the law for the industry of baseball into line with other industries. Part II will discuss how the antitrust laws and labor laws …

The Supreme Court Drops The Ball In The N.F.L. Player Dispute, Eric E. Bell

Cleveland State Law Review

The purpose of this article is to offer guidance to courts and attorneys faced with the issue of determining the point in time that the non-statutory labor exemption terminates in the context of NFL labor relations and to propose a system of free agency which might ease this conflict between the League and players. To that end, this article begins by exploring the history of player relations in the NFL, the development of the Union and the subsequent collective bargaining agreements between the Players Association and the League. This is followed by an in-depth analysis of Powell v. NFL and …

The Supreme Court Drops The Ball In The N.F.L. Player Dispute, Eric E. Bell

Cleveland State Law Review

The purpose of this article is to offer guidance to courts and attorneys faced with the issue of determining the point in time that the non-statutory labor exemption terminates in the context of NFL labor relations and to propose a system of free agency which might ease this conflict between the League and players. To that end, this article begins by exploring the history of player relations in the NFL, the development of the Union and the subsequent collective bargaining agreements between the Players Association and the League. This is followed by an in-depth analysis of Powell v. NFL and …

Righting The Titled Scale: Expansion Of Artists' Rights In The United States, Colleen P. Battle

Cleveland State Law Review

This Note focuses on the expansion of artists' rights in the United States, specifically the moral rights of paternity and integrity. It explores the history of judicial denial of moral rights and the attempt to gain protection through traditional causes of action. The Note then analyzes barriers to adoption of the moral rights doctrine, with emphasis on the challenge to traditional property concepts. The California Art Preservation Act of 1980 and the 1984 Artists' Authorship Act of New York are discussed and evaluated. This Note recommends adoption of the California statute as the model for future artists' rights legislation and …

The N.F.L.'S Final Victory Over Smith V. Pro-Football, Inc.: Single Entity - Interleague Economic Analysis, Terrance Ahern

Cleveland State Law Review

The financial expansion of the N.F.L. has been accompanied by the promulgation of league rules to ensure league stability. These rules include several player service market restraints, which have been adopted by the N.F.L. to ensure competitive equality between the franchises. This note analyzes the validity of these restraints under the Sherman Antitrust Act in light of the recent decision of the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals in Smith v. Pro Football, Inc. and presents a new approach to the economic structure of the N.F.L. which may validate the current restraints.