Saturday, March 17, 2007

Seven of the world's leading professional poker players filed a motion for
summary judgment against WPT Enterprises, Inc. in federal district court in
Los Angeles this week. In their motion for summary judgment, plaintiffs
Chris Ferguson, Andrew Bloch, Annie Duke, Phil Gordon, Joseph Hachem, Howard
Lederer, and Greg Raymer presented undisputed facts which claim that WPTE,
which owns the World Poker Tour, has committed multiple violations of
federal antitrust laws. The dispute has its roots in an earlier
confrontation between the poker pros and WPTE (see previous
Online-Casinos.com/InfoPowa reports) in which WPT was accused of unlawfully
conspiring to force poker players to sign non-negotiable "releases" that
require those players to grant WPTE the right to use their valuable names,
likenesses, voices and images for zero compensation so that WPTE can exploit
these rights to promote its own products and services. The plaintiffs
contend that the undisputed facts establish that WPTE and the casinos have
agreed to boycott and exclude from WPT events any poker player who does not
sign such a "release." The plaintiffs have also offered undisputed evidence
that WPTE and the casinos are conspiring to restrict the number of poker
tournaments in competition with the WPT by agreeing that the casinos cannot
sponsor any televised non-WPT events. Legal counsel for the poker pros says
that these agreements constitute "per se" or "quick look" violations of
federal antitrust laws. The "per se" and "quick look" tests apply to conduct
which is so inherently anti-competitive that a court may summarily decide
that such conduct violates U.S. antitrust laws without the need for full
discovery or a trial. If the motion is granted, WPTE will be permanently
enjoined from: (1) agreeing with the casinos to require the Plaintiffs and
other poker players to sign releases granting WPTE the right to use those
players' intellectual property rights to promote WPTE products and services;
(2) using the grant of Plaintiffs' intellectual property rights obtained
from past releases; and (3) Prohibiting casinos from sponsoring non-WPT
poker tournaments. Jeffrey Kessler, lead counsel for the poker players,
says: "If the players prevail in this summary judgment motion, WPTE's
unlawful agreements will come to a quick end without the need for further
discovery or a trial. All poker players would then be able to compete in WPT
tournaments without being forced to give up their valuable intellectual
property rights for no compensation and the casinos would be free to sponsor
competing televised poker tournaments of their own."