Online Archive

The Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law has published its 2020 Special Issue on Name, Image, and Likeness. Visit the Special Issue – NIL page to read the latest exciting scholarship on group licensing, sports regulatory schema, college athletes as influencers, and more.

We would like to thank all of the JSEL board members and supporters for joining our donation initiative to support groups combatting racism in America, advocating for criminal justice reform, and stopping police brutality. Together, we contributed nearly $3,400 to over 20 organizations waging these critical fights on the local and national level. Our work […]

Like many of you, we were heartbroken and outraged by the senseless murder of George Floyd at the hands of police. Systemic racism and violence against Black Americans is entrenched in our country and this is nowhere more present than our criminal justice system. As law students, we are angered by the injustices that black […]

Editor’s Note: Welcome to Career Spotlights, where we publish short-form interviews with real-world sports/entertainment-industry practitioners who are employed by (or alumni of) our partner firms. David Marroso, Partner, Century City, Los Angeles, CA Practice Areas/Industries:  Sports and Entertainment Litigation Education:  Harvard Law School Hometown: Las Vegas You Picked O’Melveny Because:  Warren Christopher “Typical” Workday:  No such thing.  Every day […]

Trevor Katende, Partner Elect, Century City  Practice Areas/Industries:  Mergers & Acquisitions, Entertainment, Media, Sports & Technology  Education:  Harvard University (’03), Stanford Law School (’06)  Hometown:  Ardsley, New York  You Picked Paul Hastings Because:  Great people.  Great culture.  Fascinating work.  “Typical” Workday:  No such thing!  Favorite Part Of Your Job:  Finding a unique/tailored solution to a [...]

Volume 9-2 is now live! This JSEL volume includes: “#Congratulations but #SeeYouInCourt: Olympic Hashtag Restrictions Raise Concerns Over Trademark Rights and Free Speech” by John Grady & Stephen McKelvey, “There’s No Business Like Show Business: Abandoning Color-Blind Casting and Embracing Color-Conscious Casting in American Theatre” by Kristin Bria Hopkins, “What if Kaepernick is Correct?: A Look at […]

Includes “Changing the Game: Remedying the Deficiencies of Baseball’s Antitrust Exemption in the Minor Leagues” by Theodore McDowell, “Life After Death: How to Protect Artists’ Post-Mortem Rights” by Loren Cheri Shokes, “The Pledge to Brand Loyalty: A Gold Medal Approach to Rule 40” by James Schwabe, and “ Thomas Dreams of Separability” by Charles E. Colman. 

Includes the article “The Tom Brady Award and the Merit of Reasoned Awards,” by John Burritt McArthur, and the notes, “A Less Perfect Union: Why Injury Risk Prevents NFL Players from Driving as Hard a Bargain as MLB Players in CBA and Contract Negotiation,” by Hamish Nieh, and “Putting Hurdles in a Marathon: Why the Single-Entity Defense Should Not Apply to Disputes Between Athletes and Non-Team Sport Leagues,” by Garrison Shepard.

May 2017, Special Issue (Full Version PDF) Comparing Health Related Policies and Practices in Sports: The NFL and Other Professional Leagues  

JSEL Volume 8, Number 1 (Full Version PDF) ARTICLES Standards of Review in Law and Sports: How Instant Replay’s Asymmetric Burdens Subvert Accuracy and Justice Steve P. Calandrillo and Joseph Davison Freeing Buskers’ Free Speech Rights: Impact of Regulations on Buskers’ Right to Free Speech and Expression John Juricich Irrevocable but Unenforceable?  Collegiate Athletic Conferences’ Grant […]

November 2016, Special Issue (Full Version PDF) Protecting and Promoting the Health of NFL Players: Legal and Ethical Analysis and Recommendations Christopher R. Deubert, I. Glenn Cohen, and Holly Fernandez Lynch

A group of New Yorkers filed a lawsuit on October 5, 2016 in the New York Supreme Court, challenging a recently enacted law allowing daily fantasy sports (DFS) in the Empire State. DFS are a subset of online fantasy sports in which players compete by building a team of professional athletes from a specific sports […]

JSEL Volume 7, Number 2 (Full Version PDF) Preface by Professor Peter Carfagna, Faculty Advisor to JSEL ARTICLES The History and Doctrine of American Copyright Protection for Fashion Design: Managing Mazer Charles E. Colman Going to Bat for the “Baseball Rule”: Atlanta National League Baseball Club, Inc. v. F.F. et al. Benjamin Trachman Forecheck, Backcheck . . . Paycheck? […]

JSEL Volume 7, Number 1 (Full Version PDF) ARTICLES Comparing NCAA and Olympic Athlete Eligibility Dispute Resolution Systems in Light of Procedural Fairness and Substantive Justice Josephine R. Potuto and Matthew J. Mitten Constitutional Voting Rules of Australian National Sporting Organizations: Comparative Analysis and Principles of Constitutional Design Robert D. Macdonald and Ian M. Ramsay  NOTES […]

Unlike the millions of fans who rejoiced after hearing that Luke’s Diner would be back delving out gallons of coffee for Rory and Lorelai, albeit through your Netflix subscription at a yet to be disclosed date later this year, Gavin Polone was not amongst those millions. Along with Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband Daniel Palladino, […]

The music industry is all abuzz as SoundCloud has (finally) launched its first paid subscription service – Go. The subscription is $9.99 a month with a 30-day free demo. The subscription gives you ad-free and offline listening, and is currently only available in the U.S. The most important thing about SoundCloud’s service is that its […]

It has almost been a year since the jury found that Robin Thicke and Pharell Williams’ hit, “Blurred Lines,” infringed on the copyright to Marvin Gaye’s, “Got to Give it Up.”  The Gaye estate is now seeking an additional $3.5 million in attorney fees.  Included in that number is the cost of hiring three musicologists […]

The NHL is seeking to have certain concussion claims brought by wives and next of kin dismissed. A lawsuit seeking compensation from the league for medical and household care was filed on January 15 in U.S. federal court. The NHL has now filed a motion to dismiss for lack of standing, stating that the claims […]

Take-Two Interactive and Visual Concepts, creators of the popular video game NBA 2k16, have been named as defendants in a copyright infringement suit brought by tattoo company Solid Oak Sketches. At issue are eight tattoo designs that appear on the game’s versions of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. NBA 2k16 graphically represents the portraits of […]

  The music industry was no stranger to legal controversies in 2015, and it appears 2016 will provide no reprieve, at least for interactive streaming giant Spotify. Within a two-week period, Spotify has been hit with not one, but two class action copyright infringement suits. The first suit, brought by artist Michael Lowery, is seeking […]

  Federal Judges in the Third Circuit conducted a hearing on Thursday with regard to the lower court’s approval of settlements with regard to NFL concussion litigation. Per the April settlement, families of players whose brains were found to have C.T.E. qualified for up to $4 million dollars. Upon appeal, the players’ lawyer is arguing […]

Featuring the first two articles in Professor Charles E. Colman’s series on principles of copyright protection for fashion design, an article on implementing a franchise player designation in the NBA, and commentary on off-the-field violence by professional athletes.

Featuring articles on Fan Action Committees, reforming amateur basketball in the United States, and when linking to leaked movies, scripts, and shows is copyright infringement

According to the Washington Post, attorneys for five Native Americans have asked a federal district judge in Alexandria, VA to dismiss a lawsuit brought against them by the Washington Redskins. The Native Americans are the same group who successfully challenged the Redskins’ trademarks in front of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office board. The group […]