Student Athletes Sue NCAA For Profits From Their Images
Headline Legal News
Courthouse News is reporting that the National Collegiate Athletic Association forced thousands of student athletes to sign away rights to their own images and cheated them of a share in the profits from DVD and video game sales, according to an antitrust class action in Federal Court. Led by former UCLA basketball star Edward O'Bannon, the class claims the NCAA forced students to sign the misleading "Form 08-3a" if they wish to play NCAA sports, which "commercially exploits former student athletes" by giving the NCAA the right to profit from their images without compensation, long after the athletes have left school.
The attorney for Edward O'Bannon, Jon King, believes athletes sign under duress and forms are not explained adequately.
"The athletes are herded into a room and given forms to sign. No one explains anything, there are no lawyers and no one has any idea what's going on. But they sign because they just want to play ball," he said.
The NCAA has acknowledged that student athletes possess a right of publicity. In a September 2008 statement on why the NCAA would not sue CBS over its use of college player information, NCAA President Myles Brand wrote, "In the case of intercollegiate athletics, the right of publicity is held by student-athletes, not the NCAA. We would find it difficult to bring suit over the abuse of a right we don't own."
King believes the NCAA did not expect old players to take action against this statement.
The complaint seeks health insurance for players as well as "additional education or vocational training and pension plans to benefit former student athletes."
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USCIS Will Begin Accepting CW-1 Petitions for Fiscal Year 2019
On April 2, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting petitions under the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)-Only Transitional Worker (CW-1) program subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2019 cap. Employers in the CNMI use the CW-1 program to employ foreign workers who are ineligible for other nonimmigrant worker categories. The cap for CW-1 visas for FY 2019 is 4,999.
For the FY 2019 cap, USCIS encourages employers to file a petition for a CW-1 nonimmigrant worker up to six months in advance of the proposed start date of employment and as early as possible within that timeframe. USCIS will reject a petition if it is filed more than six months in advance. An extension petition may request a start date of Oct. 1, 2018, even if that worker’s current status will not expire by that date.
Since USCIS expects to receive more petitions than the number of CW-1 visas available for FY 2019, USCIS may conduct a lottery to randomly select petitions and associated beneficiaries so that the cap is not exceeded. The lottery would give employers the fairest opportunity to request workers, particularly with the possibility of mail delays from the CNMI.
USCIS will count the total number of beneficiaries in the petitions received after 10 business days to determine if a lottery is needed. If the cap is met after those initial 10 days, a lottery may still need to be conducted with only the petitions received on the last day before the cap was met. USCIS will announce when the cap is met and whether a lottery has been conducted.