Cardtoons, L.C. v. Major League Baseball Players Ass’n10th Circuit Court of Appeals208 F.3d 885 (10th Cir. 2000)

Key Search Terms: antitrust immunity, publicity rights, right to petition,First Amendment, baseball

FactsCardtoons took steps to produce parody baseball trading cards whichcontained images of major league baseball players. Cardtoons contracted withChamps Marketing, Inc. to print the cards for a set fee. The Major LeagueBaseball Players Association sent a cease and desist letter to Champsthreatening litigation for violation of publicity rights if they didn’t stop printingthe cards. Champs informed Cardtoons that it intended to stop printing thecards.

IssueThis appeal set out to decide whether pre-litigation threats communicatedsolely between private parties are afforded immunity by the right to petitionguaranteed by the First Amendment.

HoldingThe Tenth Circuit addressed whether Noerr-Pennington Immunity applied inthis case. They found that outside of the antitrust context immunity appliessolely on the basis of the right to petition. The case at hand involved privateparties and the threat was not addressed to the government. The court ofappeals held that the First Amendment protects only those petitions which aremade to the government; thus, purely-private threats of litigation are notafforded immunity. The court of appeals reversed and remanded.

Summarized By: Laura Brackey