A group of photographers sued the NFL claiming that its exclusive licensing deal with the AP and Getty Images allowing the League to use stock images royalty-free are an illegal throttling of competition. But the New York federal court disagreed and dismissed the case. The exclusive deals didn’t reduce output of licensed NFL photos on the market or raise prices for consumers, said the court.
And even if the claims did have merit, the court added, because photographers aren’t directly involved in the licensing or sale of NFL-licensed photographs, they don’t have legal standing to challenge the licensing agreements in court [Spinelli v. NFL, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40716, March 27, 2015].