Antitrust

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In an opinion last week, Judge Engelmayer dismissed a class action brought by 16 student-athletes against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (the “NCAA”) over claims arising from NCAA’s use of the student-athletes’ names, images, and likeliness (“NIL”) in advertisements and other commercial endeavors. The plaintiffs’ amended complaint alleges unjust enrichment and violations of the Sherman Act, including a conspiracy aimed at suppressing the market for the plaintiffs’ NIL and a monopolization of the markets for student-athlete labor, images, and footage.Continue Reading Judge Engelmayer Dismisses NCAA Student-Athletes’ Untimely “Names, Images, and Likeness” Case

Last week, a group of professional tennis players and the Professional Tennis Players Association (a group co-founded by Novak Djokovic) filed a 163-page complaint against the International Tennis Federation (which regulates professional tennis tournaments, including the four “Grand Slams”), the ATP Tour (which regulates men’s professional tennis tours), the WTA Tour (which regulates women’s professional…

On Wednesday, Judge Carter granted Major League Baseball’s Motion to Dismiss the Complaint of four Minor League Baseball teams alleging that MLB violated the Sherman Act by orchestrating an agreement among its clubs to eliminate 40 minor league teams from affiliation with major league clubs. As discussed in a previous post, Plaintiffs argued the Supreme Court had signaled its willingness to reconsider MLB’s exemption from antitrust scrutiny in NCAA v. Alston, 141 S. Ct. 2141 (2021).
Continue Reading Judge Carter: MLB’s Antitrust Exemption “Shields” MLB from Minor League Baseball Teams’ Sherman Act Suit

In a complaint filed today, four minor league baseball teams sued Major League Baseball for violating the Sherman Act by allegedly orchestrating an agreement among its clubs to eliminate 40 minor league teams (out of 160) from being affiliated with major league clubs.

The Staten Island Yankees, Tri-City Valley Cats, Salem-Keizer Volcanoes and Norwich Sea Unicorns allege that MLB “collectively decided to artificially reduce the number” of affiliated minor league teams to cut expenses, instead of allowing the free market to determine which minor league teams will survive and prosper.  The Plaintiffs allege they brought the suit given the Supreme Court’s recent signaling in NCAA v. Alston, 141 S. Ct. 2141 (2021) of its willingness to reconsider MLB’s exemption from antitrust scrutiny:
Continue Reading Minor League Baseball Teams Sue MLB for Antitrust Violations

In a pair of opinions Monday, Judge Cote dismissed two putative class actions, one brought by college textbook retailers (opinion here) and another brought by students (opinion here), accusing textbook publishers and on-campus bookstore operators of violating the antitrust laws. The cases alleged an unlawful conspiracy involving a digital program called Inclusive Access that provides students automatic access to course materials when they register for class and bills their bursar account (unless they opt out).

In both cases, Judge Cote found that there were no plausible allegations of an anticompetitive agreement, or conspiracy, among the defendants, because there were ample independent reasons to pursue a digital strategy:
Continue Reading Judge Cote: College Textbook Publishers Did Not “Conspire” to Steer Universities to Requiring Digital Books

In an opinion today in the Uber antitrust case, which was on remand from the Second Circuit (see our prior coverage here), Judge Rakoff sent the case to arbitration based on the “Terms of Service” within Uber’s phone application.  Before doing so, however, he complained of having to enforce terms that “everyone recognizes” are “totally coerced”:
Continue Reading Judge Rakoff Bemoans “Factual and Legal Fictions” Underlying Enforcement of Consumer Arbitration Clauses

In a complaint filed earlier this week, a group of Broadway producers accused various Broadway casting companies of “band[ing] together to form a casting cartel, enlisting the help of the Teamsters to force Broadway producers to engage in collective negotiations.”  The Broadway League, representing the producers, notes that “the market for casting services is highly concentrated” but that “competition for casting services has been robust, forcing prices down.”  According to the complaint:
Continue Reading Broadway Producers Sue to Bust Broadway Casting “Cartel”

In an opinion today, Judge Failla dismissed entirely a case brought by a bar exam company referred to as “LBE” that specializes in students with LL.M. degrees.  LBE accused the industry leader, Barbi, of colluding with law schools nationwide to harm its business, but LBE’s own complaint — 78 pages long and with 63 exhibits…

As part of the ongoing Uber antitrust litigation, the Second Circuit yesterday reversed Judge Rakoff’s earlier ruling that the arbitration clause in Uber’s terms of service was not enforceable (see our previous coverage of Judge Rakoff’s decision here, and the interlocutory appeal here).
Continue Reading Second Circuit Reverses Judge Rakoff, Finds Uber Arbitration Clause is Enforceable