William Hill Sues FanDuel in New Jersey

The New Jersey division of the globally renowned UK bookmaker, William Hill, has begun legal proceedings against sports betting company, FanDuel Incorporated, over the claims that certain copyrights have been violated.

Specifically, William Hill accuses FanDuel of copying their 'How to Bet' guide almost “word for word.”

The Damage Done

The copyright infringement lawsuit was filed this Tuesday in the US Disctrict Court in New Jersey. In it, William Hill accuses FanDuel of “blatantly duplicating the guide,” even going so far as using the identical hypothetical examples of certain betting situations.

The reports by The Associated Press says that William Hill seeks damages that were not specified as well as any profit that FanDuel may have made from the copied betting guide.

The importance of the US market for both companies cannot be understated...

And this legal action is just another proof of that, as it clearly demonstrates the fierce competition betting groups are facing in the wake of the sports betting market being launched nation-wide, state by state.

“This is Ridiculous”

Sports betting has raked in more than $336 million in New Jersey since the beginning of the regulated market's operations this summer.

While FanDuel refrained from commenting on the lawsuit, Joe Asher, William Hill US CEO, was very eager to comment: “We are not litigious people, but this is ridiculous. If the court finds in our favor, a portion of the proceeds will fund scholarships for creative writing programs at New Jersey universities.”

William Hill began offering their sports betting services in June – they opened up a sportsbook in Monmouth Park Racetrack, and soon afterwards the sportsbook at ocean Resort Casino in Atlantic City went live.

The guide in question was also published in June and already in July, FanDuel was circulating the allegedly identical guide at Meadowlands Racetrack.

Accusations Multiply

On the courts, the entire blocks of texts used by FanDuel were outlined and marked as plagiarized. Also, Hill claims that some of the diagrams used in their guide were also taken without their permission...

...These diagrams are mostly illustrations of possible bets – eg. a chart with a 1:05 PM baseball game between Cubs and Phillies which listed teams' starting pitchers and three different ways to bet appeared identically in both guides.

And in one area of the guide, FanDuel allegedly did not even bother to remove Hill's name, which is considered the most telling instance of this case. William Hill also pointed out at some problematic copyright infringements on FanDuel's site.

Source:

“Bookmaker William Hill sues FanDuel over how to bet guide”, Wayne Parry, apnews.com, October 24, 2018.