College Athlete Rights After O\u27Bannon: Where Do College Athlete Intellectual Property Rights Go From Here?

The recent O\u27Bannon v. NCAA decision, which gave student athletes a right in products that exploit their image and likeness, will have a profound impact on college athlete rights. This giant step forward will propel student athletes to fight for more intellectual property rights. Following the footsteps of professional athletes, these rights will likely include copyrighting sports moves, touchdown celebrations, and signature phrases as well as trademarking nicknames and touchdown dances. This Note encourages the adoption of a program giving student athletes these rights and allowing them to receive compensation, uncapped, that they would split evenly with his or her university. This solution will simultaneously expand student athlete rights and allow the universities to receive extra money to reinvest into their athletic programs