Judge: EA Can Profit from College Players' Likeness

[Greg Tito]

Judge: EA Can Profit from College Players' Likeness

A Federal judge ruled that EA owes no compensation to former college players for using their likeness in NCAA Football games.

Sports games based on professional sports usually have agreements in place with player's associations so that the athletes receive some compensation for their names and likenesses to appear. Games depicting college sports, the most common example is EA Sports NCAA Football series, have no such agreement with players because it is against NCAA rules for them to profit from participating in sports. That's why NCAA Football doesn't use real names, but EA still shows the player's uniform number and a general likeness to players including height, weight, hair color, complexion as well as biographical details like high school.

In 2010, former Rutgers quarterback Ryan Hart sued EA for using these details in the game - including his appearance and signature left wristband - but his claim was dismissed by Judge Freda Wolfson of the New Jersey District Court in Trenton. In that ruling, Judge Wolfson allowed Hart to resubmit his complaint with a different wording. Unfortunately for Hart, his second submission was also dismissed by Wolfson today.

The ruling states that the First Amendment rights of EA Sports to make a game is more important than Ryan Hart's control of his likeness. With the Supreme Court ruling that games are just as protected by the First Amendment as books and movies in June, Wolfson had to uphold EA's rights.

Hart's lawyer Keith McKenna didn't have a comment on the dismissal, but EA was quick to gloat on the victory. This decision "validates Electronic Arts' rights to create and publish its expressive works," said Elizabeth McNamara.

I understand that Ryan Hart and other former college athletes like Arizona State quarterback Sam Keller are a little miffed that they will never receive compensation for kids being able to play as them in NCAA Football, but I think that's just part of the deal with being a college athlete. It must doubly sting for those players who, for whatever reason, were unable to excel at the professional level, but the alternative is much worse.

Not only would we be forced to download roster updates with the real players names, but we'd have to mod each player's likeness manually to match your favorite team's roster. That's just too much work.

Source: Gamasutra [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/37140/EA_Wins_Dismissal_In_NCAA_Player_Likeness_Suit.php?]

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[Baldr]

Most High Profile college athletes get paid to play, it called scholarships. Instead of the money going to the individual, it goes to the NCAA, which in turn gives out more scholarships(not just to football, but other sports as well.) This allows more people to go to college. I know it is their likeness, but wanting the money for yourself instead of helping others is a little selfish.

 

[Mettking]

Could someone explain to me how EA can get away with using likenesses in NCAA games but can't with Madden games? Wouldn't the same "First Amendment rights of EA Sports to make a game" get them around there as well, according to this ruling?

 

[weirdee]

They already have previous legal agreements for those, so I don't think that would fly.

Not sure about future ones though.

Of course, this also brings into question the use of likenesses for ALL games, so we'll see how this pans out. Hopefully we get our MJ zombies back in our PvZ games.

(I still have the old version of it without those changes.)

 

[mikey7339]

I love minor league football...Major corporations can cash in billions of dollars off of players, but the second the players get a cent in compensation they get in massive trouble.

 

[Stealthygamer]

Hopefully we get our MJ zombies back in our PvZ games.

(I still have the old version of it without those changes.)

Same, yay for not steam.

OT: they got to go to college without being good at anything but sports, that's their compensation

 

[emeraldrafael]

Yeah, sorry if i dont feel so bad for them after all the turrel Pryor stuff. Apparantly you can go ahead and make money, and if you dont want to miss five games of college, you can just cut out to the draft and make even MORE money, while people defend your right to play week one instead of a five game suspension.

 

[DaxStrife]

I don't give a crap about football, EA Sports, or any game that depicts acts of football, but I really don't like what this case symbolizes... basically, we now have precedent for companies to use anyone's likeness without giving them proper compensation.

 

[Sutter Cane]

Yeah, sorry if i dont feel so bad for them after all the turrel Pryor stuff. Apparantly you can go ahead and make money, and if you dont want to miss five games of college, you can just cut out to the draft and make even MORE money, while people defend your right to play week one instead of a five game suspension.

Here's a question, why shouldn't he be able to play week 1 in the NFL? He was suspended for violation of NCAA rules, not NFL rules, nor did he break the law, so what's the issue?

 

[emeraldrafael]

Yeah, sorry if i dont feel so bad for them after all the turrel Pryor stuff. Apparantly you can go ahead and make money, and if you dont want to miss five games of college, you can just cut out to the draft and make even MORE money, while people defend your right to play week one instead of a five game suspension.

Here's a question, why shouldn't he be able to play week 1 in the NFL? He was suspended for violation of NCAA rules, not NFL rules, nor did he break the law, so what's the issue?

i dont know, why was big ben suspended for four games when he wasnt even charged with a crime, while other men get the pass?

personally i dont care anyway. the guy was always a dick growing up in highschool, and especialy after he got that number one rank.

 

[GiantRaven]

I don't give a crap about football, EA Sports, or any game that depicts acts of football, but I really don't like what this case symbolizes... basically, we now have precedent for companies to use anyone's likeness without giving them proper compensation.

No it doesn't. It gives them the right to use the likeness of people who have signed a contract stating they aren't allowed to earn money.

Sure it comes across as a little shady, but they aren't going to be stealing the likenesses of me and you (well, unless you're a college footballer I guess) any time soon.

 

[Sutter Cane]

Yeah, sorry if i dont feel so bad for them after all the turrel Pryor stuff. Apparantly you can go ahead and make money, and if you dont want to miss five games of college, you can just cut out to the draft and make even MORE money, while people defend your right to play week one instead of a five game suspension.

Here's a question, why shouldn't he be able to play week 1 in the NFL? He was suspended for violation of NCAA rules, not NFL rules, nor did he break the law, so what's the issue?

i dont know, why was big ben suspended for four games when he wasnt even charged with a crime, while other men get the pass?

personally i dont care anyway. the guy was always a dick growing up in highschool, and especialy after he got that number one rank.

dunno. i guess the real thing is just that Roger Goodell is a bad commissioner

 

[emeraldrafael]

Yeah, sorry if i dont feel so bad for them after all the turrel Pryor stuff. Apparantly you can go ahead and make money, and if you dont want to miss five games of college, you can just cut out to the draft and make even MORE money, while people defend your right to play week one instead of a five game suspension.

Here's a question, why shouldn't he be able to play week 1 in the NFL? He was suspended for violation of NCAA rules, not NFL rules, nor did he break the law, so what's the issue?

i dont know, why was big ben suspended for four games when he wasnt even charged with a crime, while other men get the pass?

personally i dont care anyway. the guy was always a dick growing up in highschool, and especialy after he got that number one rank.

dunno. i guess the real thing is just that Roger Goodell is a bad commissioner

yeah, thats a good way to sum it up.

 

[Jabberwock xeno]

Is this being appealed more?

 

[Nayr]

Honestly football players get so many perks over regular students at university, they should not coplain about something like that. Sure they don't technically get paid, but it is easier for them to get jobs (at my school most local bars hire only football players for bouncers) and most of them don't take a full course load. Most people don't agree but sport and university should be separate. That way students there for just studying don't have to deal with athletes getting all the extra perks at university and the regular paying student gets shafted.

That way to, then athletes could focus more on their goals of being a professional athlete. To bad that will never happen because schools make to much money off them.

 

[ph0b0s123]

"The ruling states that the First Amendment rights of EA Sports to make a game is more important than Ryan Hart's control of his likeness. With the Supreme Court ruling that games are just as protected by the First Amendment as books and movies in June, Wolfson had to uphold EA's rights."

So the same right that allows movies to have real people depicted also protects games for doing the same thing? This seems pretty cut and dried then.....

I am assuming that no money was paid to Bush for the 'W' movie. Same thing here isn't it?

 

[Jumwa]

I am assuming that no money was paid to Bush for the 'W' movie. Same thing here isn't it?

Public figures have always been an exemption to such rules. Typically whatever governments do is considered public domain, and politicians themselves then too are open to such openness, though there have been motions to change that in recent years.

And in the case of satire you could always imitate likenesses.

 

[Alphakirby]

Must. Resist. South Park Reference...

OT: Ok seriously,this is just a dick move,they are college students for crying out loud. They have things they need to pay for and some compensation for having their likeness used would be very helpful to that cause. But EA just loves bad decision making,see also: Every marketing campaign since Dante's Inferno

 

[bjj hero]

Keep pimping those students out... Student athletes are cash cows for the institutions around them.