North Carolina high school student-athletes can lawfully commercialize their personal brands. With this shift in the legal landscape in favor of students, parents are engaging more in the legal process.
For example, in 2024, we saw parental advocacy in action with Rolanda Brandon, a North Carolina mom, whose son, Faizon, is a talented football player. When the North Carolina Board of Education attempted to ban high school NIL activities, Mrs. Brandon sought judicial relief against the Board of Education and the NC Department of Public Instruction in August, challenging the Board’s authority to restrict Faizon’s opportunities to monetize his name, image and likeness.
In October 2024, a Superior Court judge signed an order striking down the Board of Education’s rules that banned public high school athletes from entering any NIL agreements and profiting from those agreements. In reaching that decision, the Court inferred that Senate Bill 452 was intended for public high school athletes to have an opportunity to use their NIL, even though Bill 452 invited the Board to impose guardrails related to that use. However, despite its authorization of guardrails, the judge ultimately ruled it was an overreach for the Board to ban fully any use of the athletes’ NIL and ruled in favor of Mrs. Brandon. Winning!
My name is Olivia Fajen, and I am excited and honored to serve as chair of the Sports and Entertainment Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association this year. We greatly appreciate your involvement with and support of the SEL Section, and we are looking forward to another great year!
We are thankful for the below list of terrific attorneys who are serving as SEL Section Council members and officers for 2024-25:
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00SportsandEntertainmenthttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngSportsandEntertainment2024-07-11 14:03:132024-07-11 14:29:15Welcome to a New Bar Year!
Throughout the year, the Sports & Entertainment Law Section will be conducting interview spotlights of its members to showcase the careers of the section members. This month, the section is spotlighting Erin Basinger of Basinger Law, PLLC.
What brought you into sports or entertainment law, and what area of sports or entertainment law do you currently practice?
My background is in fashion, and I always loved my mass media law classes. As I began to make friends in the entertainment industry, I realized how much the entertainment industry intersects with my love of intellectual property work in the fashion industry. So, I wanted to combine those two things and build a career I love.
For those interested in practicing in sports or entertainment law, what is a piece of advice you would share with them?
Networking can get you anywhere—even if it is not legal related. My first legal internship was from a referral I received from friends who own an entertainment show, whom I met at a motorcycle rally. You truly never know where good connections may pop up.
In March 2023, the North Carolina Film Office reported that 2022 spending from film production had topped over $258 million, and 2023 was off to a strong start. Governor Roy Cooper lauded the industry for creating over 16,000 job opportunities in the state, including over 70 films, television, and streaming projects in 2022 alone.
With ever-increasing film production in North Carolina, it is timely to review the basics with respect to advising clients considering an investment in film. This blog post shares top legal and non-legal considerations when advising a first-time (or relatively unsophisticated) film investor. There is a long list of potential bad outcomes for a film investor — from the producer running out of money, the film being unable to obtain distribution, a lender taking over the project due to non-payment of a loan, or even the failure to distribute profits. Set forth below are key questions to ask about the proposed project to assist you in understanding the project and advising your client regarding strategies to minimize risk.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00SportsandEntertainmenthttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngSportsandEntertainment2024-03-11 11:19:272024-03-11 11:19:27So, Your Client is Considering Investing In a Film . . . .
Throughout the year, the Sports & Entertainment Law Section will be conducting interview spotlights of its members to showcase the careers of the section members. This month, the section is spotlighting Douglas Wood, formerly with the law firm of Reed Smith LLP, and now enjoying a solo practice in North Carolina after 47 years toiling in “Big Law.”
What brought you into sports or entertainment law, and what area of sports/entertainment law do you currently practice?
In law school, I focused on intellectual property. I continued focusing on intellectual property while pursuing my LLM. After receiving my LLM, I was very fortunate to get a job at a boutique music and entertainment law firm. The rest is history!
Over time, my practice evolved and now focuses on transactions in the advertising and marketing industry. Examples include media buying, licensing, and endorsements.
Dear Members of the Sports & Entertainment Law Section,
It is a joy and a pleasure to have been given the privilege to serve as the chair of the section for the 2023-24 bar year.
After three years of work-from-home and virtual events, I think we’ve reached that moment when so many of us are ready to meet each other in person again.
The legal industry is one that relies on relationships. As sports and entertainment professionals, that is amplified for us. We work, or are interested, in a field that seeks to motivate the general public to get out of their homes and into the theater or stadium or complex where our work or the work of our clients is being showcased. Even video games can have an in-person component. Who doesn’t love a good old-fashioned day at the arcade? Our clients are often global travelers going from one state or country to the next to play their games or shoot their next film or project or perform their latest album.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00SportsandEntertainmenthttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngSportsandEntertainment2023-09-13 10:11:162023-09-13 10:11:16Welcome to the 2023-24 Bar Year: A Message from the Chair
Throughout the year, the Sports & Entertainment Law Section will be conducting interview spotlights of its members to showcase the careers of the section members. This month, the section is spotlighting Ryan Fairchild of Odin Law and Media. Fairchild is Chair of the Sports & Entertainment Law Section.
College football season is upon us, and The Ohio State University is in the hunt for the playoffs. As good as they have been on the field, the school’s first win came before the season started. In June, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted Ohio State an unusual trademark: the word “The.”
For those unfamiliar with Ohio State, the attempt to claim ownership of a definite article may seem absurd, but the word “The” holds a special place in the heart of Buckeyes everywhere. While it has been a part of the school’s name since 1878, the university made a push in the 1980s to emphasize the word “The” as part of the college’s brand and to distinguish it from other OSU colleges such as Oregon State University and Oklahoma State University. Since then, the word has appeared on Ohio State merchandise, promotional materials, and is emphasized in the pre-game introductions of Buckeyes competing in professional sports. The school’s first application for the trademark was denied, since the USPTO was skeptical that the word was being used as an indication of source, but their second attempt was approved after demonstrating the sheer amount of marketing and advertising they had poured into creating a link between the word and the Ohio State brand.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00SportsandEntertainmenthttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngSportsandEntertainment2022-11-01 09:19:392023-01-09 17:00:47“The” Ohio State University and the Trademark Protection of Cultural Identity
Dear Members of the Sports & Entertainment Law Section:
I am so honored to have the privilege to serve as chair of the section this bar year.
For those who don’t know me: I am a lawyer in Wilmington with a practice focused on esports and content creators. I started my career by clerking for James C. Fox here in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina before joining Brooks Pierce, where I litigated a variety of matters and built my current practice. Last September, I joined former section chair Brandon Huffman and the crew at Odin Law and Media. I also spent the better part of the last year doing business operations for a video game startup.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00SportsandEntertainmenthttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngSportsandEntertainment2022-07-27 10:40:512022-07-27 10:40:51Welcome to a New (Bar) Year
In this CLE, Tim Browne and Melinda Zanoni discuss how COVID-19 has affected the practice of entertainment law, including challenges as content pivots to digital platforms, legal triage for counseling clients on how to operate in a lockdown, and COVID-defying solutions to pandemic problems faced by entertainment clients. Find out how to limit coronavirus liability at venues and discuss revisiting entertainment contract force majeure clauses in the era of COVID.
**Each month, the NCBA releases one-hour, on-demand CLEs, which are free of charge as the costs are included as part of your annual NCBA dues.
https://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.png00SportsandEntertainmenthttps://ncbarblogprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Blog-Header-1-1030x530.pngSportsandEntertainment2021-04-12 16:23:312021-04-12 17:05:06April Expert Series CLE: 'Entertainment Law and Coronavirus'
By Natasha W. Robinson and Erik Albright
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