The governor of Arizona signed Senate Bill 1296 into law permitting student-athletes enrolled in a colleges and universities in Arizona to be paid for the use of their names, images, and likenesses, to hire representatives to represent student-athletes’ interests, and declaring that a student-athlete may not be compelled to forfeit his/her rights in order to participate in intercollegiate athletics.  Arizona becomes the tenth state to enact legislation that permits student-athletes to accept compensation for their names, images, and likenesses (following California, Colorado, Florida, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas).

In most respects, the Arizona act is similar to predecessor acts enacted in California, Colorado, Florida, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas.  In pertinent part, the act provides a student-athlete may:

• A student-athlete may enter into a contract and receive compensation for the commercial use of the student-athlete’s publicity rights; and
• Earning compensation for the commercial use of a student-athlete’s publicity rights shall not affect the student-athlete’s scholarship eligibility.

In turn, student-athletes are required to or prohibited from doing the using their names, images, and likenesses in the following circumstances:

• Any way that violates the intellectual property rights of any person including the student-athlete’s college or university; and
• Conflicts with the student-athlete’s team contract.

The Act requires that any athlete-agent advising or representing a student-athlete to comply with Arizona’s version of the Uniform Athlete Agent Act.

For any questions, feel free to contact Christian Dennie at cdennie@bgsfirm.com.