Court Rules Against Wrestler Ray's Appeal of ESPN Lawsuit
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit ruled against former wrestler Steve “Wild Thing” Ray's appeal of his lawsuit against ESPN, saying U.S. District Court Judge Scott Wright was correct in dismissing the lawsuit because the Copyright Act…
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“preempts Ray's claims” that ESPN misappropriated his name, invaded his privacy and interfered with his prospective economic advantage by re-telecasting his Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) performances. Ray claimed that ESPN re-telecast his wrestling performances without his consent, saying the matches had been “filmed for future use to generate revenue.” Wright ruled in 2014 that the Copyright Act pre-empted Ray's claims because his performances were part of copyrighted material “and his likenesses couldn't be detached from the copyrighted performances that were contained in the films.” ESPN and Ray didn't comment. The appeals court is based in St. Louis.