The first article I read in the Huffington Post about a class action suit against EA Sports, a video game company. Many former and current athletes are suing the company because they claim that EA is violating Publicity rights by using the likeness of college players without permission. The NCAA doesn’t allow the player to profit from their athletic ability and accomplishment, but they are allowing the school, EA, and other 3rd parties to do so.
Being a former NCAA athlete, who was “in” the EA college basketball game, I think it is completely unfair and overtly illegal. The article states a case where a racecar driver won a similar suit. I will be very interested to see in where this case goes, but I believe some how the company will win out, and the NCAA players will continue to get unfairly exploited.
The second case is a criminal case in where charges were brought against 18 people for various types of fraud. The alleged criminals duped investors for over $25million with promises of high returns, movie credits, and other falsehoods. In reality, the money collected barely went to producing the films, and some films were actually never even made.
I am glad to see that there are protections for movie investors. I hope those investors understand that this is not common practice and that they can trust their money in ethical companies. As far as the case, I hope if these criminals are found guilty, they are punished to the fullest extent of the law. Fraudulent manipulation of investors, in my opinion, is one of the most unethical white-collar crimes.
Lastly, I read a short article on how the state of Texas is deregulating talent agencies. Texas apparently required a special registration for talent agencies, but as of September 1st no longer do so. Proponents for the deregulation state “It is inefficient and unnecessary to continue the state licensing of talent agencies ….. The number of licensees … is so small that there is no benefit to the consumer to continue regulation”
Apparently, many people were operating talent agencies without the registration, and it was too easy to circumvent, and inefficient to keep requiring the registration. I am interested in this case because I plan to own a talent agency one day and I will have to look into state law and see what is required of me and where it would be best to set up my business.
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