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Patriots QB sues Yahoo for unauthorized use of his likeness

Greg Sandoval Former Staff writer
Greg Sandoval covers media and digital entertainment for CNET News. Based in New York, Sandoval is a former reporter for The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. E-mail Greg, or follow him on Twitter at @sandoCNET.
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Greg Sandoval
The New England Patriots' three-time Super Bowl champion quarterback, Tom Brady, is alleging in a lawsuit that Yahoo used his likeness to promote the portal's fantasy football league without his permission.

According to a report on the news site The Smoking Gun, Brady filed his suit in U.S. District Court and is asking for unspecified damages.

The Pats star player alleges that Yahoo used a photo of him in an advertisement that appeared in a September 2006 issue of Sports Illustrated, the Smoking Gun reported.

Brady asserts that Yahoo's use of his image "connotes a false endorsement," according to the news site.

The advertisement in question shows several NFL players with their teams' helmet insignias removed. Among the players are running back LaDainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers, and New York Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey.

Calls to Yahoo representatives were not immediately returned on Thursday. With more than 4 million users, the portal's fantasy football league is one of the largest on the Internet.