Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad K
" Many kinds of mental creations, such as publicized baseball statistics, are never covered by copyright."
Wiki Article
It seems to me that if the stats aren't copyright then the name of a player being a field that identifies them can't be copyright in this context. |
It's the combination of statistics, plus name, plus biographical info (hometown, birthday, etc.) that adds up to use of that player's likeness. It's not just the statistics on their own. If you use Mike Trout's statistics, but call him Bill Jones with different, but similar biographical info, that would (likely) not require a license from MLBPA.
EDIT: Added "likely" in the last sentence because I don't know how constricting NIL laws and guidelines have become now that it's under the microscope with the NCAA.