The NCAA may finally have met their match. Former UCLA superstar and NCAA champion Ed O'Bannon filed a class action lawsuit against the NCAA looking to get a piece of the licensing pie. O'Bannon in his lawsuit isn't asking for the players to be paid while they're in school, but for them to be able to get some form of compensation for the use of their images, jerseys etc. after they're out of school.
Right now the NCAA doesn't allow former or current players to receive any money from the billion dollar licensing business they run. This includes: video games, jerseys, DVD's sold and whatever other way the NCAA can find to make money off of these players images. The lawsuit says that the players are forced as freshman to sign over their rights for use of their likeness. They either sign the paper and agree to this or they can't go to school and play ball. So the NCAA basically takes advantage of young kids who really have no concept of what they're signing over. Think about all the championship DVD's that you see advertised every year after someone wins the championship. All that additional revenue doesn't go to the players. This is an additional billion dollar industry aside from the basic television contracts that the NCAA benefits from.
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