By Nate Ravitz
August 8, 2006 2:14pm CDT

Earlier today, a federal judge in St. Louis, Missouri ruled in favor of CDM Fantasy Sports in the lawsuit between CBC Distributing and Marketing (CDM) and Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM).

Judge Mary Ann Medler granted CDM's motion for summary judgment and denied motions for summary judgment filed by MLBAM and the Major League Baseball Player's Association (MLBPA). The judge also dismissed all counterclaims filed by MLBAM and the MLBPA.

At issue was whether CDM's use of player names and statistics in fantasy games violated the players' rights of publicity. MLBAM argued that it owned exclusive rights to license player names for use in fantasy contests by virtue of an agreement made with the MLBPA in January of 2005. CDM argued that player names and statistics were in the public domain and could be used by anyone, much as boxscores are printed for free in newspapers and on websites every day.

Judge Medler's finding stated, in part, the following: "the court finds that the undisputed facts establish that the players do not have a right of publicity in their names and playing records as used in CBC's fantasy games and that CBC has not violated the players' claimed right of publicity. The court finds further that the undisputed facts establish the names and playing records of Major League baseball players as used in CBC's fantasy games are not copyrightable and, therefore, federal copyright law does not preempt the players' claimed right of publicity."

The judge ruled that MLBAM and the MLBPA "not interfere with CBC's using players' names and playing records on its website and in its fantasy baseball games in the manner presented in this case;"

To read the court's conclusion, click here. To read the entire brief, click here.

Nate Ravitz covers fantasy baseball for Rototimes.com, which is a division of CDM Fantasy Sports. Nate can be reached at nate@rototimes.com