Warren Ferguson

Warren Ferguson, judge who helped pave the way for teenage basketball players to join the NBA, dies at 87

LOS ANGELES - Warren Ferguson, a judge for more than four decades who helped pave the way for teenage basketball players to join the NBA, died June 25. He was 87.

Ferguson died of congestive heart failure at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, said his son, Peter.
Ferguson was a federal judge in 1971 when he ruled in an antitrust case brought by Spencer Haywood, who wanted to sign with the Seattle SuperSonics. Ferguson declared illegal an NBA rule that forbade the signing of players until four years after they had completed high school. The case went to the Supreme Court, which ruled in Haywood's favor.

In another 1970s case, involving the Sony Betamax recorder, Ferguson ruled that VCR manufacturers were not liable for copyright infringement committed by people who used the machines to tape TV shows. His decision was reversed by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but the case went to the Supreme Court, which ruled some personal copying of TV shows was legal.