They emphasized EA tried to make the games as realistic as possible-recall EA’s “It’s in the game” tagline-and that EA went so far as to allow video-game users to upload rosters of real players’ names as a way of more closely linking their virtual world with the real one. Two federal appeals courts, the Ninth and Third Circuits, didn’t buy that argument. The video game setting purportedly transforms a real athlete’s likeness into an avatar that has more to do with the talents of EA programmers than those of the real-life athlete. EA insisted that video games are like books and movies in expressing ideas and creating features distinctive to the medium, with player avatars interacting in a virtual world. In those litigations, EA argued it was protected by the First Amendment. Though varying by state law, this right generally forbids the commercial use of another person’s identity without their consent. In different legal actions, Ed O’Bannon, Sam Keller and Ryan Hart sued EA for violating their and other players’ right of publicity. The games also contained the likenesses of players, but without those players’ names or consent and without paying them. In that scenario, college athletes could unionize, collectively bargain terms of employment and negotiate group licensing deals with video-game publishers and other businesses.Īlthough the EA and NLRB developments are unrelated, they forecast a near-term future where college athletes appear in video games in the same vein as NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL players.ĮA previously published college football and basketball games that contained the logos, colors and other intellectual property of the NCAA and colleges, with EA paying the NCAA and colleges to use those properties. The development comes as the National Labor Relations Board moved one step closer to finding that colleges, conferences and the NCAA are joint employers of college athletes. 'Go to Duke,' Ivy League Argues in Athletic Scholarship Lawsuit USC Athletes Designated as Employees in NLRB Complaint EA Paying College Players Should Have Happened Years Ago
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