Partner Dana Gross provided his thoughts to IPWatchdog on what he will be watching for in 2025 in the intellectual property law space. He shared that the year ahead promises continued evolution in the regulation of student athletes’ name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights, building on the significant developments of 2024, such as the landmark $2.8 billion settlement across three class actions—House v. NCAA, Hubbard v. NCAA, and Carter v. NCAA. He also highlighted the possibility of Congress codifying NIL protections and offering the NCAA relief from future litigation.
“In fact, it is possible – albeit perhaps unlikely – that by this time next year a wholly new and reimagined version of the NCAA will have taken shape, with student athletes receiving direct payments from their universities, as well as other revenue streams tied to their exploitation of their NIL rights, which will be protected under federal law,” Dana noted.
He also pointed to the role of artificial intelligence as an emerging force in NIL-related areas such as digital branding, content creation, and combating unauthorized digital replicas.