Athens judge denies UGA athletics' motion to dismiss ABH effort to view NIL contracts
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Western Circuit Superior Court Judge Eric Norris denied a motion on Tuesday by the University of Georgia Athletic Association to dismiss a complaint filed by the Athens Banner-Herald that seeks to obtain NIL records filed by university athletes.
The Banner-Herald is seeking documents associated with financial contracts for NIL — name, image and likeness — signed by UGA athletes.
The complaint is still pending.
Athens attorney Edward Tolley filed a motion asking Norris to dismiss the complaint based on an argument that the lawsuit should have been directed at UGA and not the athletic association, which is a private entity that does not accept public money.
Athletes at colleges across the nation can now sign financial contracts with various companies that can use their name or image to promote a product.
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Background: Judge to rule on Athens Banner-Herald's effort to access UGA NIL records
In response to the judge’s ruling, Augusta attorney David Hudson issued a statement Wednesday that he felt the judge properly found that the Athletic Association is subject to the Open Records Act “because it maintains and has custody of records on behalf of the university.”
A statement from UGAAA said: “We respect the Court’s decision, and we are pleased that the Court agreed with the Athletic Association’s central position in this case, expressly holding that the requested “NIL disclosure forms are ‘education records’” protected by federal privacy law. We continue to review the Court’s decision and consider all options, including whether some portion of the requested records can be disclosed without identifying individual students in violation of federal privacy law.”
Another issue on the table was the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which is a law protecting the privacy of educational records of students.
Hudson argued these NIL contracts are not educational records, a matter that Hudson said is still at issue.
The judge, however, sustained an ABH alternative position that NIL documents could be released with personal identifier information redacted.
While the complaint continues in what lawyers call the discovery phase, Hudson said he plans to contact Tolley regarding redacted documents and see if the athletic association wants to propose a compromise.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: NIL complaint pending after Athens judge denies UGA's motion to dismiss
