MINNEAPOLIS — Yahoo Inc. is suing the NFL Players Association to try to ensure it won’t be sued for using player statistics, photos and other data for its popular online fantasy football game.

The lawsuit filed this week in federal court in Minneapolis alleges that a licensing arm of the players union has threatened to sue if Yahoo doesn’t pay royalties for the use of publicly available player data.
Santa Clara, Calif.-based Yahoo says the last of its licensing agreements with NFL Players Inc. expired March 1. But it claims it doesn’t need the authorization, citing a decision in a similar case between NFL Players Inc. and CBS Interactive Inc.
NFL Players Association spokeswoman Joanna Comfort says the union had no comment at this time.