The majority of baseball cards produced today are licensed by either Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association, or both. Licensing ensures that the rights holders approve all uses of team logos, player names and likenesses, and uniform designs and colors to ensure accurate portrayal and proper authorization.
MLB and the MLBPA have agreements with the main baseball card manufacturers including Topps, Panini, Leaf, Press Pass, and Donruss/Panini that give these companies exclusive rights to produce cards featuring current MLB players, teams, and league trademarks. Without these licensing agreements in place, card makers would not be legally allowed to feature active major leaguers or recreate their uniforms, stats, and achievements.
Some specifics on MLB and MLBPA licensing:
Major League Baseball Properties Inc. (a subsidiary of MLB) holds the licensing rights for team logos, names, trademarks, and other intellectual property. They sublicense these rights to approved card manufacturers.
The MLB Players Association is the labor union representing all current MLB players. Through group licensing, the MLBPA grants rights for its members’ names, images, signatures, and stats to be used on cards.
Licensing agreements last for a set number of years, usually 2-5 years. At the end of a term, bidding takes place for the next licensing cycle between MLB/MLBPA and interested card companies.
In addition to sets focusing on the current season, retro/vintage sets recreating designs and players from the past also require MLB and MLBPA licensing to feature historical uniforms, logos, and players no longer active.
Without licensing, card makers would not be able to call out specific players’ teams, positions, stats, or achievements on a particular card. The player’s likeness and information would have to be omitted or changed.
Secondary licensing is also granted to companies producing memorabilia cards that feature game-used pieces of uniforms, balls, bats, etc. along with the authenticated player.
Licensing not only ensures accuracy, but also that MLB and the players benefit financially from commercial uses of their intellectual property through royalty payments. This incentivizes strict protection of these rights.
There are some exceptions where licensing is not required:
Vintage/retro sets recreating cards from periods like the 1950s-1980s before stringent IP protection came into play. Here, manufacturer pays artists to replicate original designs/logos/uniforms/stats based on reference materials rather than new licensing. But modern players still require licensing.
Non-sports releases from publishers like Cryptozoic, Press Pass, etc. that feature players as part of a broader non-baseball entertainment/game premise do not need MLB/MLBPA licensing since players are not portrayed within the context of professional baseball play. But uniforms cannot be shown.
Promotional/self-published release cards distributed free or in extremely limited quantities but not seeking significant commercial sales. These rarely garner attention from MLB/MLBPA legal teams since they are not truly competing products.
Licensing from MLB and the MLBPA governing bodies is essential for baseball card manufacturers seeking to produce sets depicting current major league players, using their names and stats within the official context and framework of big league baseball play. It ensures accuracy, authenticity and that rights holders are appropriately compensated. Without these arrangements, today’s biggest card brands could not exist in their present form.
