Your author recently came across a superbly written article and legal note by Jeffrey Sullivan, Esq., a partner with Baker Botts LLPin their New York City office. The article discusses a lawsuit recently filed by Mr. Sam Keller in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), the NCAA’s licensing division, and Electronic Arts, Inc. (EA). Mr. Keller, a former football quarterback for Arizona State University (ASU), alleges in his complaint that EA’s use of player images in its NCAA Football video game infringes upon his and other college players’ “rights of publicity.” In essence, Mr. Keller alleges that with the exception of a player’s name, every other aspect of football players portrayed in the video game can be attributed to actual players, such as himself. Mr. Keller points out in his complaint a number of similarities between himself and the ASU quarterback portrayed in the game – for instance, the ASU quarterback in the accused game wears jersey number 5 – which was also Mr. Keller’s jersey number. Mr. Keller also alleges that in developing NCAA Football, EA regularly contacts college team representatives to find out about the unique physical and style attributes of their players, so that these attributes can be incorporated into the game’s player characters.
I personally find this case to be fascinating; and Mr. Sullivan’s article is not only an excellent legal note, but a great read as well. (In his article, Mr. Sullivan mentions the now-aged Mattel/Coleco game “Electronic Quarterback,” which used LEDs to portray football players on the field. A game I remember, and an excellent bit of nostalgia!)
Mr. Sullivan’s article may be found at http://www.bakerbotts.com/file_upload/IfItsSortOfInTheGame.htm.
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