An issue regarding videotaped college wrestling competition may have legal ramifications and cause member institutions to revisit their credential and ticketing policies.

The NCAA has been made aware that unauthorized videotapes showcasing college and high-school wrestlers during competition are being marketed for sale on eBay in a manner intended to be sexually provocative. The videotapes typically were filmed at mat-side and appear to feature competitions that occurred during the 1990s and into the recent past. NCAA championship competition does not appear to be included. Other videotapes of matches for sale on eBay are not specifically marketed in a provocative way, but may still be illegal.

The NCAA contacted eBay about the tapes after being informed by members of the wrestling community. The Association's legal counsel has written eBay's legal staff to express a number of concerns on behalf of member institutions and student-athletes, but any legal action would have to be taken directly by the institutions and/or student-athletes.

Scott Bearby, NCAA associate general counsel, said those concerns include the possibility of copyright infringement, trademark infringement due to the use of university marks, and violation of the right of publicity since the athletes arguably are being exploited for commercial gain without their permission.

Bearby also said there may even be eligibility issues if a student-athlete with eligibility remaining is included in these videotapes. "But most of what I've seen appears to be older footage," he said.

If a member institution finds that one of its student-athletes with eligibility remaining is included in such a video, the compliance personnel will want to check whether the likenesses are being used in a manner inconsistent with NCAA bylaws, such as if the image promotes the video's sale on the Web listing or if it appears the athlete's image is included on the video jacket cover.

"Just appearing in the video may not be enough to trigger an eligibility concern, but appearing on the video jacket is an unauthorized commercial endorsement. The obligation in that case is on the university or the student to send a letter or to otherwise communicate that the company cease and desist," Bearby said.

As for the videotaping itself, and as for whether that is appropriate or inappropriate, Bearby said the issue probably rests with whatever credential or ticket policy exists for that particular meet.

"For example," he said, "the NCAA championship restricts the ability of any videotaping as a ticket holder -- it only allows for videotaping or photographing under specific news purposes. I'm not sure that some of the meets in these particular videos were that restrictive. Some of them are shot very close up, which suggests that somebody who had access was shooting for the intent of selling video. It may give institutions reason to review their policies on tickets and credentials."

Bearby said he has been contacted by at least two member institutions about the legal options that might be available. He said if the videos were obtained in a manner consistent with the credential or ticketing policy, then those options are limited. But he also said that an institution might pursue the matter from the right-of-publicity angle, which protects individuals from being exploited without their knowledge, or as an intellectual property infringement matter, since various university marks are depicted in the video.

"The question is in videotaping a collection of matches, whether that -- since they are public events -- would constitute a violation of somebody's right of publicity," Bearby said. "If someone is being used to promote the sale of the video, that's different and probably enforceable by law. But if you're just appearing in the video, there's a question about whether your right of publicity has been violated."

In any case, Bearby said this is a good example of why institutions should include their legal counsel in a regular review of university credential and ticketing policies with respect to filming.

If it is discovered that NCAA wrestling championships have been included in the videos, Bearby said the Association's legal team would aggressively pursue a resolution. He said the NCAA has had similar instances in which NCAA basketball championships have been pirated and marketed online. In such cases, the manufacturers of the video have pulled their product once contacted by the NCAA.