Chapter 16A. Uniform College Athlete Name, Image, or Likeness Act.

§ 38–1631.01. Definitions.

For the purposes of this chapter, the term:

(1) "Athletic association" means a nonprofit, intercollegiate sport governance association that regulates the eligibility of players and institutions.

(2) "College athlete" means an individual who attends or is eligible to attend an institution and engages in or is eligible to engage in an intercollegiate sport. The term does not include an individual:

(A) Participating in a sport in kindergarten through grade 12 or at a youth, preparatory school, recreation, or similar level; or

(B) Permanently ineligible to participate in a particular intercollegiate sport for that sport.

(3) "Conference" means a person, other than an athletic association, with the primary purpose of governing the athletic programs of more than one institution.

(4) "Department" means the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection.

(5) "Group license" means a name, image, or likeness agreement that covers the name, image, or likeness of more than one college athlete.

(6) "Institution" means a public or private institution of higher education in the District, including a community college, junior college, college, or university.

(7) "Intercollegiate sport" means a sport played at the collegiate level for which eligibility requirements for participation by a college athlete are established by an athletic association. The term does not include a recreational, intramural, or club sport.

(8) "Name, image, or likeness" includes a symbol, word, name, or design that readily identifies a college athlete.

(9) "Name, image, or likeness activity" means licensing, transferring, or other commercial use of a name, image, or likeness.

(10) "Name, image, or likeness agent" means an individual who:

(A) Directly or indirectly recruits or solicits a college athlete or, if the athlete is a minor, the athlete's parent or guardian to enter into an agency contract or name, image, or likeness agreement;

(B) Enters into an agency contract with an athlete or, if the athlete is a minor, the athlete's parent or guardian; or

(C) Directly or indirectly offers, promises, attempts, or negotiates to obtain name, image, or likeness compensation or a name, image, or likeness agreement.

(11) "Name, image, or likeness agreement" means an express or implied agreement, oral or in a record, under which a third party provides name, image, or likeness compensation.

(12) "Name, image, or likeness compensation" means money or other thing of value provided by a third party in exchange for use of a college athlete's name, image, or likeness.

(13) "Person" means an individual, estate, business or nonprofit entity, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or other legal entity.

(14) "Record" means information:

(A) Inscribed on a tangible medium; or

(B) Stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in perceivable form.

(15) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any other territory or possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

(16) "Student" means an individual enrolled at an institution under the rules of the institution.

(17) "Third party" means a person, other than an institution, that offers, solicits, or enters into a name, image, or likeness agreement or offers or provides name, image, or likeness compensation.

§ 38–1631.02. Scope.

(a) This chapter applies only to college athletes and intercollegiate sports.

(b) This chapter does not create an employment relationship between a college athlete and the athlete's institution with respect to the athlete's participation in an intercollegiate sport. This chapter may not be used as a factor in determining whether an employment relationship exists.

§ 38–1631.03. Name, image, or likeness activity and compensation; limits on institutions, conferences, and athletic associations.

(a) Except as provided in § 38-1631.04, this chapter does not limit the ability of a college athlete to engage in name, image, or likeness activity to the extent permitted under other District law.

(b) Except as provided in § 38-1631.04:

(1) An institution, conference, or athletic association may not:

(A) Prevent or restrict a college athlete from:

(i) Receiving name, image, or likeness compensation;

(ii) Entering into a name, image, or likeness agreement;

(iii) Engaging in name, image, or likeness activity;

(iv) Obtaining the services of a name, image, or likeness agent; or

(v) Creating or participating in a group license; or

(B) Interfere with the formation or recognition of a collective representative to facilitate or provide representation to negotiate a group license.

(2) An athletic association may not prevent or restrict an institution or college athlete from participating in an intercollegiate sport because the college athlete:

(A) Receives name, image, or likeness compensation;

(B) Enters into a name, image, or likeness agreement;

(D) Obtains the services of a name, image, or likeness agent.

(3) Receipt of name, image, or likeness compensation may not affect eligibility of a college athlete or the duration, amount, or renewal of an athletic scholarship.

§ 38–1631.04. Limit on name, image, or likeness activity and compensation.

(a) Unless the use is permitted under intellectual property law, a college athlete may not include in name, image, or likeness activity an institution, conference, or athletic association name, trademark, service mark, logo, uniform design, or other identifier of athletic performance depicted or included in a media broadcast or related game footage.

(b) Name, image, or likeness compensation or an offer, promise, or solicitation of compensation, except to the extent permitted by the rules and regulations of the relevant athletic association:

(1) May not attempt to influence the decision of a college athlete to attend, continue attending, or transfer to an institution or an institution in a conference;

(2) Must represent only compensation for use of the athlete's name, image, or likeness; and

(3) May not include compensation for performance, participation, or service in an intercollegiate sport.

(c) A college athlete may not express or imply that an institution, conference, or athletic association endorses or is otherwise affiliated with the athlete's name, image, or likeness activity without the consent of the institution, conference, or athletic association.

(d) An institution may adopt a policy to prevent a college athlete from engaging in name, image, or likeness activity if the institution complies with the same policy with respect to the institution's sponsorships and similar commercial activity, and that the institution determines has an adverse impact on its reputation. An institution that adopts a policy under this subsection shall disclose the policy and the institution's rationale in a record maintained on the institution's website that is accessible by the public and electronically searchable.

(e) An institution may adopt and enforce rules of conduct relating to name, image, or likeness activity that apply when the college athlete is engaged in an official team activity. An official team activity includes a competition, practice, supervised workout, and community service activity done at the direction of, or supervised by, a member of the institution's coaching or sport staff.

(f) An institution, conference, or athletic association may require a college athlete to waive, or otherwise transfer to the institution, conference, or athletic association, a name, image, or likeness right associated with promotion, display, broadcast, or rebroadcast of an intercollegiate sport.

(g) A college athlete shall not enter into a name, image, or likeness agreement or receive name, image, or likeness compensation if the agreement or compensation is contingent upon:

(1) Illegal activity; or

(2) An endorsement or promotion of the following:

(A) Alcohol;

(B) Tobacco, or an electronic smoking device as that term is defined in § 7-741.01(1);

(D) Anabolic steroids;

(E) Other performance enhancing substances, the use of which is prohibited by the athletic association under which the college athlete participates in intercollegiate sports;

(F) Sports betting;

(G) Gambling;

(H) Firearms; or

(I) Adult entertainment.

(h) This section shall not be construed to prohibit a college athlete from engaging in online marketplace activities that promote, for compensation, the college athlete's name, image, or likeness in a manner consistent with this section.

§ 38–1631.05. Institution, conference, and athletic association involvement.

(a) An institution, conference, or athletic association may assist a college athlete:

(1) In evaluating the permissibility of name, image, or likeness activity, including compliance with the law and institution, conference, and association rules;

(2) With the disclosure requirements of § 38-1631.06; and

(3) By providing a good-faith evaluation of a name, image, or likeness agent or third party; and

(b) An institution may permit a college athlete to use the institution's facilities for name, image, or likeness activity under the same terms and conditions as other students at the institution.

(c) An institution, conference, or athletic association shall educate a college athlete about name, image, or likeness compensation, agreements, and activity by offering financial literacy and life skills programming to college athletes. At a minimum, the programming should include:

(1) Information concerning student loan, financial aid, and debt management;

(2) Time management skills necessary for success as a college athlete and an overview of available academic support services;

(3) Budgeting based on cost of attendance, living expenses, and scholarship resources;

(4) An explanation of services offered by and guidance for accessing banks and basic banking products;

(5) An introduction to income taxes, including income earned as an independent contractor; and

(6) Warnings about payday and predatory lending practices.

(d) This subsection shall not be construed to place an obligation on an institution to provide individualized tax or legal guidance to college athletes seeking or earning name, image, or likeness compensation.

(e) Except as provided in subsection (a) of this section, an institution or conference and its employees, agents, and independent contractors may not:

(1) Provide compensation to a college athlete for the athlete's name, image, or likeness;

(2) Assist with selecting, arranging for, or providing payment to a name, image, or likeness agent; or

(3) Assist with selecting, arranging for, or collecting payment from a third party engaged in specific name, image, or likeness agreements with a college athlete or athletes.

§ 38–1631.06. Required disclosures.

(a) A college athlete shall provide or disclose to the individual or office designated under subsection (b) of this section:

(1) A copy of a name, image, or likeness agreement that provides name, image, or likeness compensation to the athlete or the athlete's designee in an amount of more than $300 or, if a record of the agreement does not exist, the amount of name, image, or likeness compensation provided or to be provided, if the amount is more than $300;

(2) The amount of name, image, or likeness compensation provided to the athlete or the athlete's designee if the aggregate amount is more than $2,000 in a calendar year and a copy of each name, image, or likeness agreement under which the compensation was received, if a record of the agreement exists;

(3) For each agreement or amount that must be provided:

(A) The arrangement for providing compensation;

(B) The amount of compensation;

(D) The activity required or authorized; and

(E) If the athlete is represented by a name, image, or likeness agent, the name of and a description of the agreement with the agent;

(4) A copy of each agreement entered into by the athlete with a name, image, or likeness agent; and

(5) Other information required by the Department.

(b) An institution shall designate an individual or office to receive the information required by subsection (a) of this section.

(1) The information required by subsection (a) of this section before the earlier of:

(A) Receiving name, image, or likeness compensation required to be disclosed pursuant to this section; or

(B) Engaging in a name, image, or likeness activity required to be disclosed pursuant to this section; and

(2) An update after a change in any of the information required by subsection (a) of this section, not later than 10 days after the earlier of the change or the next scheduled athletic event in which the college athlete may participate.

(d) If an institution, conference, or athletic association voluntarily, or as required by this chapter, adopts a limitation affecting a college athlete's ability to engage in name, image, or likeness activity, the institution shall provide, in a record, a copy of the limitation on its website that is accessible by the public and electronically searchable and to each college athlete the institution expects to participate in an intercollegiate sport:

(1) At or before the time an offer of admission or financial aid is made, whichever is earlier; or

(2) If the limitation is adopted after the college athlete is a student at the institution, as soon as practicable after adoption.

(e) A name, image, or likeness agreement must contain a statement that the agreement is the sole, complete, and final agreement between the parties. The statement must be made by:

(1) The college athlete or, if the athlete is a minor, the parent or guardian of the athlete;

(2) The third party; and

(3) If a name, image, or likeness agent provided service in connection with the agreement, the agent.

§ 38–1631.07. Civil remedy.

(a) An institution or college athlete has a cause of action for damages against a name, image, or likeness agent or third party if the institution or athlete is adversely affected by an act or omission of the agent or third party in violation of this chapter An institution or college athlete is adversely affected by an act or omission of the agent or third party only if, because of the act or omission, the institution or college athlete:

(1) Is sanctioned, suspended, or declared ineligible to participate in an intercollegiate sport; or

(2) Suffers financial damage.

(b) A college athlete has a cause of action under this section only if the athlete was a student at an institution at the time of the act or omission.

(c) In an action under this section, a prevailing plaintiff may recover actual damages, reasonable attorney's fees, and court costs.

(d) A violation of this chapter by an athlete agent or third party is a violation of and enforceable under Chapter 39 of Title 28.

§ 38–1631.08. Civil penalty.

The Superior Court of the District of Columbia, pursuant to an action brought by the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, may assess a civil penalty against a name, image, or likeness agent or third party not to exceed $50,000 for a violation of this chapter.

§ 38–1631.09. Rulemaking authority.

The Mayor may adopt rules pursuant to subchapter I of Chapter 5 of Title 2 to administer and implement this chapter.

§ 38–1631.10. Uniformity of application and construction.

In applying and construing this chapter, a court shall consider the promotion of uniformity of the law among jurisdictions that have enacted it.

§ 38–1631.11. Relation to Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act.

This chapter modifies, limits, or supersedes the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, approved June 30, 2000 (114 Stat. 467; 15 U.S.C. § 7001 et seq.) ("Act"), but does not modify, limit, or supersede section 101(c) of that Act, (15 U.S.C. § 7001(c)), or authorize electronic delivery of any of the notices described in section 103(b) of that Act, (15 U.S.C. § 7003(b)).