On November 14, 2014, the National Collegiate Athletic
Association (NCAA) submitted its initial brief to the Ninth Circuit
Court of Appeals challenging the Northern District of
California's August decision that the NCAA's rules banning
student-athletes for being compensated for the use of their names,
images and likenesses violated antitrust laws.
O'Bannon v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, et
al., case number 14-16601. The NCAA argued that these
rules do not violate the Sherman Act because of the Supreme
Court's decision in NCAA v. Board of Regents of the
University of Oklahoma, 468 U.S. 85 (1984). In that
case, the Supreme Court determined that rules aimed at protecting
the amateurism of college athletes, such as bans on paying students
to play, were not prohibited by the antitrust laws. The NCAA
contended that rules banning compensation for student-athletes'
likenesses are the same as the prohibitions on being paid to play,
and therefore, should be
