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Six retired National Football League (NFL) players have filed a class action lawsuit against the NFL. The lawsuit challenges the unauthorized use of the retired players’ names, images, and likenesses to promote the NFL brand and otherwise produce revenue for the NFL. The goal of this action is to resolve the rights of as many retired NFL football players as possible, regardless of level of celebrity, prominence in NFL Films or how long they played in the league. Players, Fred Dryer, Jim Marshall, Elvin Bethea, Joe Senser, Dan Pastorini, and Ed White, allege the NFL has earned substantial revenue by using the identities of retired NFL football players to promote the League’s “glory days”. The NFL’s efforts to use its past to promote its brand have allowed the NFL to obtain revenues from current fans of the game. The NFL’s total revenue exceeded an estimated $6.9 billion in 2008 alone. |
