Ray v. ESPN, Inc. USCA, Eighth Circuit, April 22, 2015

By Jonathan Zavin, of Loeb & Loeb   The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a professional wrestler’s state-law right of publicity claims arising from ESPN’s re-telecast of wrestling match footage as preempted by the Copyright Act.   Plaintiff, former professional wrestler Steve “Wild Thing” Ray, sued ESPN, Inc., ESPN Classic, Inc., and ESPN Classic Europe, Inc., in Missouri state court, claiming that ESPN’s re-telecast of Ray’s wrestling matches fro