A federal judge on Friday ruled that the NCAA is in violation of the antitrust law by restricting the compensation players get from selling their names, images, and likenesses.
U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ruled in favor of 20 plaintiffs led by ex-UCLA Bruins star Ed O'Bannon who filed a lawsuit that questioned the NCAA's regulation of college athletics on antitrust grounds. She issued an injunction that would allow players from big schools to get compensated from the money generated by TV contracts through a trust fund.
''I just wanted to right a wrong,'' O'Bannon said as quoted by The Associated Press. ''It is only fair that your own name, image and likeness belong to you, regardless of your definition of amateurism. Judge Wilken's ruling ensures that basic principle shall apply to all participants in college athletics.''
O'Bannon was the star of the UCLA basketball team that won the 1995 NCAA Championship. He said he signed on as lead plaintiff after he saw his image in a video game licensed by the NCAA, but he was not compensated for it.
In explaining her ruling, Judge Wilken rejected the plea of NCAA that it was an amateur league and its justification for not compensating players.
AP also quoted law professor Michael Carrier as saying that the big story here is that the NCAA has lost the definition of amateurism that it has been stressing in the past.
But Wilken also ruled that the NCAA could set a cap on the compensation given to athletes as long as the body allows a minimum of $5,000 for every athlete per year of competition.
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