Understand role of copyright law in claims of violations of NIL rights

The recent emergence of student‐athletes’ right to profit off their name, image, and likeness has created a new avenue for players to potentially earn previously unimagined levels of compensation. Although hard‐fought litigation paved the way for these changes, once NIL rights were established, they were quickly embraced and implemented throughout the country. Various websites and news reports regularly track the millions of dollars fueling this new system of compensation for student‐athletes. Given the development of NIL rights and the related economic incentives and rewards that it generated, it wasn’t entirely surprising when high‐profile former student‐athletes from many years ago began looking for similar opportunities. These student‐athletes specifically wanted to capitalize on the videos and photos of their past athletic heroics and achievements that their alma maters and other entities like the NCAA continued to display and share long after their collegiate playing days had ended.