Photographers Can’t Sustain Claims Targeting NFL, Getty, AP Agreements

Photographers challenging under the Sherman Act exclusive licensing deals between the National Football League, on behalf of its member teams, and Getty Images (US) Inc. and Associated Press cannot sustain their claims, as the district court cannot find either an antitrust injury or a relevant market in which such an injury may have occurred (Spinelli v. Nat’l Football League, S.D.N.Y., 1:13-cv-07398-RWS, 3/27/15).

Judge Robert W. Sweet, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, dismissed the photographers’ claims. He disagreed that the exclusive licenses between the National Football League and both Getty Images ...