Tom Brady Sues Yahoo, Claims Fantasy Football Ad Stole His Image

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is suing Yahoo! over a fantasy football ad that used his picture, as well as that of six other players. The Smoking Gun has the full lawsuit, as well as an image of the ad in question.

Pro Football Talk has noted a couple of interesting angles here. First, the ad conceals team logos from the helmets and jerseys of the six players (Brady, Randy Moss, Larry Johnson, LaDainian Tomlinson, Jeremy Shockey and Steve Smith). That would seem to indicate that Yahoo didn't have any type of sponsorship agreement with the league or the teams. Second, because the ad includes pictures of six different players, rather than just featuring one player as its centerpiece, it may fall under the NFL Players Association's Group Licensing Agreement. As the union states on its web site:

When a player signs an NFLPA Group Licensing Assignment (GLA) or assigns his group licensing rights to the NFLPA, he gives the NFLPA the exclusive right to use his name, number, likeness, voice, facsimile signature, photograph, picture and/or biographical information (collectively "image") in licensed programs involving six or more players.

So the question is whether Brady falls under that agreement. I assume he doesn't, or else his lawyer wouldn't bother with the lawsuit. (It's not unusual for star players to opt out of such agreements because they can make more money selling their images individually rather than collectively.) Brady has successfully sued a car dealer in the past for using his image without permission. In any event, the Boston Herald quotes a legal expert as saying, "Most of these cases are settled. I would be very suprised if this case does not settle. The cost of litigation could be hundreds of thousands of dollars."