The player pictures include team logos, brand logos and clearly show the player face. The website is a profitable website. Do I need licensing for these pictures? If I clearly state that we are not associated or licensed by the specfic player & sport, does that make a difference? If so, how clear does this msg have to be and where should this message be displayed. The website will also include similar colors to sports teams (user will be able to select a background theme, similar to their favorite teams´ color). Is this allowed if I state the name of the city only beside each color theme? The website is similar platform to fanduel.com & draftkings.com
I hope that´s enough info for you to answer my questions.
No you may not and adding that kind of statement does not change the situation. A player has a right to not have his/her image used for profit by others. In most states, this is a called a publicity right. The NFL has a licensing program for players images. As far as team colors, that question has been answered many times in this forum. You might note that there is nothing wrong with stating that a player plays for the Seaharks, or Jets, etc.
It sounds like you could greatly benefit from a consultation with an experienced attorney before you launch this business.
You can't use player pictures for commercial purposes ("website is a profitable website") without licenses. The applicable leagues likely can serve as a clearinghouse for all the rights, and will likely be the place where enforcement originates if you are caught without licenses. There might be third party businesses that can sell some things, like sell prints of player pictures to fans, but the one whose terms I've seen doesn't really seem to have the authority to license all the rights needed for what you describe. Among the issues will be: (1) copyright by the photographer in the image itself (2) right of publicity of the players and (3) trademark rights of the teams. The league might have its own rights such as in NFL, NBA, MLB etc. Disclaimer would not likely help except in an extremely unlikely situation where you have (1) and (2) but not (3) and maybe not enough there. If it is a fantasy league site, and you also use things like stats maintained by the actual league, you may also be infringing copyright in their published stats. The latter might be arguable, but only to the extent the facts are like "news," You might want to research whether the actual league has special license/support for fantasy leagues.
