Ex-NFL players can sue over Madden NFL video games Former NFL players have scored in their bid to sue video game giant EA Sports over the use of their likenesses in the blockbuster Madden NFL games. A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected EA’s argument that the legal challenge should be tossed and sided with former NFL players, such as one-time Los Angeles Ram quarterback Vince Ferragamo, who say they should be paid for the use of their avatars in Madden games. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling was not surprising, as the same court in 2013 sided with former NCAA athletes in their lawsuit against EA Sports and others over NCAA video games. EA and another licensing company then paid $40 million to settle lawsuits brought by former college football and basketball players. In rejecting Redwood City-based EA’s arguments that the games are protected by the First Amendment, the appeals court cited its ruling in the NCAA case. The 9th Circuit called the use of players’ images “central to EA’s main commercial purpose.” “Like (the NCAA video game), Madden NFL replicates players’ physical characteristics and allows users to manipulate them in the performance of the same activity for which they are known in real life — [...] newsinca/ex-nfl-players-can-sue-over-madden-nfl-video-games/
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 00:01:38 +0000