Post: EA Sports Sued By 6,000 Retired NFL Players
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08-03-2010, 05:07 PM
#1
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America loves two things: NFL and lawsuits. So, when these two meet, you have the ultimate American Dream. The likenesses of the historic teams in Madden 09 were apparently a little too lifelike, as roughly 6,000 former NFL players are taking EA Sports to court over what they allege is the unlawful use of their likenesses in Madden NFL 09.
According to IGN, the lawsuit claims that EA used the stats and positions of past players, but changed their uniform numbers and removed their names in order to get around having to pay licensing fees. One retired footballer, Tony Davis, claims that the publisher used the exact stats of players, including height and weight, but changed the names and jersey numbers to get out of stumping up the cash.
The lawsuit also takes aim at the customization options available, which let players freely edit in the real names and uniform numbers of these classic athletes. "The only significant detail that EA changes from the real-life retired NFL players is their jersey number," the suit claims. "Despite EA's 'scrambling' of the retired NFL players' numbers, the games are designed so that consumers of the Madden NFL video game franchise will have no difficulty identifying who the 'historic' players are."
The lawsuit seeks damages associated with the "deprivation and violation of publicity rights." Lawsuits are THE SHIT, right?
[/B][/COLOR]America loves two things: NFL and lawsuits. So, when these two meet, you have the ultimate American Dream. The likenesses of the historic teams in Madden 09 were apparently a little too lifelike, as roughly 6,000 former NFL players are taking EA Sports to court over what they allege is the unlawful use of their likenesses in Madden NFL 09.
According to IGN, the lawsuit claims that EA used the stats and positions of past players, but changed their uniform numbers and removed their names in order to get around having to pay licensing fees. One retired footballer, Tony Davis, claims that the publisher used the exact stats of players, including height and weight, but changed the names and jersey numbers to get out of stumping up the cash.
The lawsuit also takes aim at the customization options available, which let players freely edit in the real names and uniform numbers of these classic athletes. "The only significant detail that EA changes from the real-life retired NFL players is their jersey number," the suit claims. "Despite EA's 'scrambling' of the retired NFL players' numbers, the games are designed so that consumers of the Madden NFL video game franchise will have no difficulty identifying who the 'historic' players are."
The lawsuit seeks damages associated with the "deprivation and violation of publicity rights." Lawsuits are THE SHIT, right?
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The following 9 users say thank you to MBO for this useful post:
08-04-2010, 09:46 AM
#29
NormL
Owner of The REAL eXp LLC
guaranteed the lawsuit is from retired players who are near bankrupt or on the brink of losing all thier money. i highly doubt joe mantana,jerry rice,troy aikman,steve young care enough for this lawsuit..since they know how to manage money..they might see this as a typical frivolous lawsuit...the lawsuit is justifiable..but..now their status as role models are tainted by greed over the use of a stat or name on a game for kids to enjoy.
08-04-2010, 04:43 PM
#30
Legalize It
steeezynutz
Dick move by EA, but I wouldn't care enough sue someone about it.
08-11-2010, 05:02 AM
#33
Chicharito
#14
dam that sucks. ill bet the money the will lose is millions lolz
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