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and your business with our comprehensive suite of intellectual property services.
and your business with our comprehensive suite of intellectual property services.
Sports Memorabilia Lawsuits
If you are considering filing a sports memorabilia lawsuit, chances are you believe you have been the victim of sports memorabilia fraud. Sports memorabilia typically refers to any item that can be directly linked to a sports event or personality, including jerseys, trading cards, bats, balls and more. Unfortunately, given the high dollar value of sports memorabilia, forgeries are all too common. The FBI estimates that between 50–90% of all celebrity and sports collectibles sold in the United States are fakes. Filing a sports memorabilia lawsuit is one means of holding the seller accountable.
If you are the victim of sports memorabilia fraud, there are legal options, and the Simmons Law Firm can assist you. Beyond breach of contract and consumer fraud statutes, California offers a particularly effective statute which allows consumers to recover their damages, a civil penalty of 10 times actual damages, court costs, reasonable attorney's fees, interest, and expert witness fees incurred in the lawsuit. Additionally, if the defendants’ conduct is especially egregious, additional damages can be asserted.
If you believe you have been the victim of sports memorabilia fraud or want more information on protecting your rights, please schedule a free consultation with one of our sports memorabilia fraud attorneys today.
Sports Memorabilia Fraud
Sports memorabilia items are generally collected by the fans of a particular sport, athlete or team. Because of the rarity time-value of some collectibles, the value of many of these items is remarkably high. For instance, the ball that Mark McGwire hit for home run number 62 in 1998 was sold for over 1 million dollars. More recently, Derek Jeter’s 3,000th hit and a fan’s selfless gesture of returning that ball brought sports memorabilia collecting into the mainstream. Jeter’s ball is estimated to be worth $250,000 alone.
However, sports memorabilia fans and collectors can often be deceived. The most common faked autographs focus on historically recognized names (Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, etc.), as well as recent and future Hall of Famers (Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Albert Pujols). In fact, some authenticators have been known to reject about 60% of all Babe Ruth autographed memorabilia!
To learn more about sports memorabilia fraud or to talk to one of our sports memorabilia lawyers, please call the Simmons Law Firm at 866-468-8631.
