Maybe this one will finally put the issue to rest.

Just a little more than a month after the U.S. district court in Minnesota ruled in CBS’ favor against the NFL Players Association over use player stats and likenesses in fantasy games, Yahoo has filed a similar suit in the same district.

In its filing, Yahoo! Alleges that NFL Players (the business arm of the players association) has threatened to sue the company if it uses player stats and “related information” in its fantasy contests without paying proper royalties fees.

The two sides had been engaged in licensing agreements before this year, but the last such deal expired on March 1, according to the Yahoo! filing. As a result of the April ruling in the CBS case, Yahoo! believes it should no longer be subject to such royalties.

Specifically, the filing includes three counts on which Yahoo! seeks judgment:

I. Declaratory judgment that Yahoo does not violate any right of publicity owned or controlled by NFL Players.

II. Declaratory judgment that a right of publicity interpreted broadly enough to encompass Yahoo’s actions is superseded by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

III. Declaratory judgment that a right of publicity interpreted broadly enough to encompass Yahoo’s actions are preempted by federal copyright law.

What this all boils down to is that the company wants an official ruling that it can run its fantasy football games just as it always has this season but without a licensing agreement and without getting sued.

The players association — which filed an appeal in the CBS case late last week — seems likely to keep fighting but could be running out of juice.

FSB.com will surely have more on this topic over the coming weeks and months.

Related posts

• Yahoo! Says Series of Contacts Preceded Filing
• Venue Shouldn’t Matter in Player Stats Disputes

With the CBS Interactive lawsuit against the NFLPA on its way to being finalized in favor of the fantasy sports industry, some significant voices are sharing their pleasure over this week’s rulings.

“This victory further cements the autonomy of fantasy sports operators from sports leagues and player unions,” new Fantasy Sports Trade Association president Paul Charchian (more on that to come) said in the FSTA’s release on the suit. “Fantasy sports provide significant advantages to the leagues and players unions, creating a wide variety of tangible and intangible benefits. As has always been the case, the FSTA welcomes the opportunity to work with each of the leagues and their players’ associations.”

Lawyer Glenn Colton, who assisted the FSTA in the CBC lawsuit against Major League Baseball called it “yet another victory for fantasy sports players and businesses, and most importantly for all of our First Amendment freedoms.

“The decision is yet another brick in the wall that will insure that the millions of fantasy sports players continue to be able to enjoy the game and the innovations and improvements that come with freedom to operate and invent without fear of players associations swooping in at the 11th hour and wresting control of the benefits of those inventions and innovations.”

Obviously, CBS is also happy with the judgment handed down this week.

“CBS is pleased that the court confirmed the use of player names, statistics and other materials in CBS’s online fantasy games is protected under the First Amendment,” CBSSports.com senior vice president and general manager Jason Kint told FSB.com in a statement. “CBSSports.com, along with the rest of the fantasy sports industry, looks forward to continuing to provide the fun and excitement of fantasy sports.”

More, no doubt, will come as the news of this ruling spreads around the industry. Stay tuned to FSB.com.

Tuesday’s rulings in the CBS Interactive lawsuit against the NFL Players Association were even better news than we here at FSB.com realized.

After gathering more information on the proceedings and talking to some people smarter than we are, it has become clear that the NFLPA is very near the same result that Major League Baseball and its players association found in challenging fantasy companies previously.

The key part is that in granting CBS’ motion for summary judgment, the U.S. district court judge presiding over the suit in Minnesota ruled in the plaintiff’s favor — including a declaration that use of player statistics, news and headshots for fantasy games is protected by the First Amendment.

The NFLPA has 30 days from the date of the ruling to appeal the case and seems like it probably will. After all, this is pretty much the last chance for the league and players association limit access for fantasy game providers. If the ruling stands, the NFLPA — like MLB before it — won’t be allowed to take any other fantasy entities to court anywhere in the country over the same issues.

Of course, if the appeal is filed, it will head to the same Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals that ruled in favor of CBC in the baseball case. It’s tough to imagine the court going against its own previous ruling.

If baseball and football are both blocked in attempts to extract payments for access to player statistics, names and licenses, other sports would seem unlikely to mount similar challenges. They would certainly be allowed to, but the size of the fantasy markets in baseball and football put a lot more money on the line in licensing disputes. Would it be worth the lawyer fees for NASCAR or PGA to take fantasy providers to court? Probably not.

One also has to wonder whether such a challenge would be worth any potential public relations fallout that could accompany. With a smaller fan base than MLB or the NFL enjoy, the NHL — for instance — would feel the effects more of alienating any portion of its followers.

So, fantasy folks, although we’re not officially at an endpoint in the fight between sports leagues and game providers, we certainly appear to be closing in on the unofficial finish line.