Brady to Yahoo! Fantasy Football: You Owe Me

Today The Smoking Gun posted a copy of the federal court complaint filed by New England Patriot's own Tom Brady against Yahoo!. The suit was dated November 20, and filed November 29. It points out Brady's gripe, or more precisely his management company's gripe, that our very own superstar of football's image was ripped off by Yahoo! and used without his permission to promote their Fantasy Football endeavors. Four counts of illegal action are cited including the fancy legalese of "False Endorsement Under the Federal Lanham Act," "Violation of Statutory Rights of Publicity," "Violation of Common Law Rights of Publicity," and "Unjust Enrichment."

It's that last count of "Unjust Enrichment" that could really bring the bucks back to Brady. First you prove that they ripped off your image, then you prove they profited, then you claim all the earnings under unjust enrichment. Simple three step process. They're looking for a jury award, in reality they'd probably settle if the deal was good enough, for the money that Yahoo! made off of the Fantasy Football site using Brady's image. "Exhibit A" pictured here is a print ad which ran in Sports Illustrated though banner ads ran on Yahoo! using Brady's image in the run up to the opening of Fantasy Football season. They're looking for an injunction barring Yahoo! from further use of Brady's "image, likeness, and identity" immediately, an accounting of all the monies received as a result of said use, and, oh yeah, more money.

Image courtesy of The Smoking Gun and the filed complaint, lets just hope Brady doesn't come after us for using it.