Nebraska § 48-3603 - Name, image, or likeness rights or athletic reputation; compensation of student-athlete; effect; limitations.

§ 48-3603. Name, image, or likeness rights or athletic reputation; compensation of student-athlete; effect; limitations.

(1) No postsecondary institution shall uphold any rule, requirement, standard, or limitation that prevents a student-athlete from fully participating in an intercollegiate sport for such postsecondary institution because such student-athlete earns or intends to earn compensation for the use of such student-athlete's name, image, or likeness rights or athletic reputation.

(2) No collegiate athletic association shall penalize a student-athlete or prevent a student-athlete from fully participating in an intercollegiate sport because such student-athlete earns or intends to earn compensation for the use of such student-athlete's name, image, or likeness rights or athletic reputation.

(3) No collegiate athletic association shall penalize a postsecondary institution or prevent a postsecondary institution from fully participating in an intercollegiate sport because a student-athlete participating in an intercollegiate sport for such postsecondary institution earns or intends to earn compensation for the use of such student-athlete's name, image, or likeness rights or athletic reputation.

(4) No postsecondary institution shall be prohibited from:

(a) Creating, identifying, facilitating, enabling, or supporting student-athlete name, image, or likeness activities; or

(b) Entering into agreements with a third-party entity to create, identify, facilitate, enable, or support name, image, or likeness activities.

(5) No third-party entity or individual shall be prohibited from:

(a) Communicating with a student-athlete to create, identify, facilitate, enable, or support name, image, or likeness activities;

(b) Compensating a student-athlete for the use of such student-athlete's name, image, or likeness rights or athletic reputation; or

(c) Compensating student-athletes for promoting:

(i) An athletics event in which the student-athlete may participate, if the third-party entity or individual has an agreement to promote the athletics event; or

(ii) The postsecondary institution which the student-athlete attends.

(6) No postsecondary institution shall allow compensation earned by a student-athlete for the use of such student-athlete's name, image, or likeness rights or athletic reputation to affect the duration, amount, or eligibility for or renewal of any athletic grant-in-aid or other institutional scholarship, except that compensation earned by a student-athlete for the use of such student-athlete's name, image, or likeness rights or athletic reputation may be used for the calculation of income for determining eligibility for need-based financial aid.

(7)(a) The compensation a student-athlete earns for the use of the student-athlete's name, image, or likeness rights or athletic reputation must be for services actually performed. Student-athletes shall not be paid for contracts that (i) extend beyond the student-athlete's participation in an athletic program at a postsecondary institution, (ii) involve the sale or exchange of awards or other items received for athletic participation, or (iii) provide compensation for work not performed.

(b) A postsecondary institution shall not compensate a student-athlete for the use of the student-athlete's name, image, or likeness rights or athletic reputation unless otherwise permitted or authorized by:

(i) A collegiate athletic association and postsecondary institution policy;

(ii) A court order; or

(iii) A settlement agreement.

(8) Student-athletes may be prohibited from entering into contracts or agreements related to the use of the student-athlete's name, image, or likeness rights or athletic reputation or engaging in name, image, or likeness activities for products, services, entities, or activities reasonably deemed to be inconsistent with the educational mission of the postsecondary institution by such postsecondary institution.

(9) Nothing in the Nebraska Student-Athlete Name, Image, or Likeness Rights Act shall limit the ability of a postsecondary institution to establish and enforce standards, requirements, regulations, or obligations for such postsecondary institution's students not inconsistent with the act.

(10) Nothing in the Nebraska Student-Athlete Name, Image, or Likeness Rights Act grants to a student-athlete the right to use any name, trademark, service mark, logo, symbol, or other intellectual property that belongs to the postsecondary institution, regardless of whether the intellectual property is registered, to further the student-athlete's opportunities to earn compensation for the use of the student-athlete's name, image, or likeness rights or athletic reputation.

(11) Nothing in the Nebraska Student-Athlete Name, Image, or Likeness Rights Act shall be construed to qualify a student-athlete as an employee of a postsecondary institution based solely on the fact that the student-athlete earns compensation for the use of the student-athlete's name, image, or likeness rights or athletic reputation, or is engaged in name, image, or likeness activities pursuant to the act.