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The guys kick off the year by discussing the lengths a college QB has to go through to prevent profitingfrom his name or likeness and remain eligible with the NCAA. They also answer, "I purchased a business and did not realize that there are all these gift certificates out there (I don't know exactly how many) that customers keep coming in with. Since I had no knowledge of these certificates, do I have to honor them?" Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: All right. Welcome to our podcast where we cover business in the news and answer some of your business legal questions that you, the listener, can send in to ask@legallysoundsmartbusiness.com. Welcome to our first new episode of 2015. My name is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And I’m Matt Staub. NASIR: We’re recording this in 2014 but I think the most frustrating thing is just getting the dates right on these contracts. We get to make sure we put in 2015 instead of 2014. MATT: Yeah, that’s the biggest challenge. I don’t want to change any words – just the date; just the year. NASIR: Exactly. All these new contracts we’re signing and drafting. So, let’s start off the new year correctly with a football issue. MATT: New Year’s Day is always a big day for college football. I’m trying to think, when this comes out, I think we’re in-between the first round of the college play-off and the championship game. NASIR: Okay. MATT: The person we’re going to talk about is not someone who’s going to be playing in that because his team didn’t make it. Dakota “Dak” Prescott is suing a t-shirt company who is using his name or likeness. The shirt is this, it’s “Dak Dynasty” with a picture of their mascot bulldog and with the Duck Dynasty beard on it and a phrase on it, “That’s a Fact, Dak!” It’s all right, I guess. NASIR: Very clever. MATT: Yeah, so this company’s making this shirt and selling it. I’m going to take Prescott’s word for it that he’s not involved in it at all, so much so that the NCAA basically, the rules are in place saying that he has to take some sort of action to stop them selling the shirt and making money off it because, as an amateur athlete, he can’t make any money or else he loses his amateur status and then he can’t play college football anymore. So, like I said, he’s not involved in this and this company initially refused to take it off the shelves – or virtual shelves, I don’t know if they’re selling it online or in stores. But he has to go as far as to sue them in order for them to stop so he can retain his amateur status which, to me, is pretty crazy. NASIR: Yeah, that doesn’t seem fair. I mean, all of a sudden, because you’re doing well in college sports, now you have to actually pay an attorney that you’re not getting paid anyway. I think, just like Johnny Manziel, I think there’s an NCAA fund for these kinds of things, right? MATT: Yeah, he used – was it the NCAA Opportunity Fund? “It helps student athletes,” here’s how they put it, “…when they can’t afford certain things such as legal action or travel home due to family emergencies.” So, he’s not paying, at least. NASIR: Well, I hope not, but it is strange that the actual bylaw – which is, by the way, for those that are interested, is 12.5.2.2 of the NCAA bylaws – some action, right? It doesn’t really necessarily describe what an action exactly that is required. It seems like a demand letter would be sufficient but I guess that’s what the fund’s for and some lawyers have to get paid. That’s what we do. MATT: Yeah, he might have just been advised to just do this as a just in case because you never know if the NCAA, how they’re going to rule on things. They kind of seem to be all over the board in terms of who they rule eligible and ineligible every year so I would tend to agree with him or whoever advised him to air on the side of being overcautious just because you’d never know what the NCAA is going to do; they’re just a wildcard. NASIR: And some of the concern is the earning potential of the name or likeness of...