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NCAA will not renew EA Sports contract

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

JMcCurry08

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http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect...3/july/ncaa+will+not+renew+ea+sports+contract

[h=2]NCAA will not renew EA Sports contract[/h]The NCAA has made the decision not to enter a new contract for the license of its name and logo for the EA Sports NCAA Football video game. The current contract expires in June 2014, but our timing is based on the need to provide EA notice for future planning. As a result, the NCAA Football 2014 video game will be the last to include the NCAA’s name and logo. We are confident in our legal position regarding the use of our trademarks in video games. But given the current business climate and costs of litigation, we determined participating in this game is not in the best interests of the NCAA.
The NCAA has never licensed the use of current student-athlete names, images or likenesses to EA. The NCAA has no involvement in licenses between EA and former student-athletes. Member colleges and universities license their own trademarks and other intellectual property for the video game. They will have to independently decide whether to continue those business arrangements in the future.
 
[video=youtube;n725VxPWJs4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n725VxPWJs4[/video]
 
Translation: The NCAA knows it owes a ton in lawsuit monies and will no longer participate in college games. EA can pay individual universities and deal with whatever the courts decide in regards to "likeness".

This is the first time I've seen the NCAA acknowledge defeat on the Ed O'Bannon case.
 
Translation: The NCAA knows it owes a ton in lawsuit monies and will no longer participate in college games. EA can pay individual universities and deal with whatever the courts decide in regards to "likeness".

This is the first time I've seen the NCAA acknowledge defeat on the Ed O'Bannon case.

Acutally the reasons this happened was because in one of the builds for a game they were using real player names and likeness. It was acutally in the game until it was sent out for mass production. One of the test copies with the names was sent to a NCAA quality rep who flagged it.

http://www.polygon.com/gaming/2012/...sketball-football-student-athletes-real-names

EA Sports developed college games with athletes' real names

and

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/05/ex-ea_sports_producer_ncaa_vid.html

Ex-EA Sports producer: NCAA video games replicated real college players

And the below link is a good read to on the legalities of doing this and making a profit off it while using a likeness of a person(s) who you are not planning to compensate for it.

http://education.gsu.edu/main/docs/Beth_Cianfrones_article.pdf


THE RIGHT OF PUBLICITY AND STUDENT-ATHLETE LIKENESSES
The remainder of this paper will address the legal issues associated with
the right of publicity by analyzing the violations alleged in the class action
lawsuit brought by Sam Keller, former quarterback for Arizona State and
Nebraska, against EA and the NCAA. Keller’s complaint also includes
allegations involving conspiracy, violation of California’s Unfair Competition
Act, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment (Keller, Class Action
Complaint, 2009).

However, this paper will address only the right of publicity
claims alleged in the complaint and the defenses to those claims. On June 15,
2009, Ryan Hart, former quarterback at Rutgers University, and Troy Taylor, a former quarterback at the University of California, also filed a class action
lawsuit against EA claiming that the SVG producer violated their publicity
rights (Hart et al. v. EA Inc., et al., 2009). The claims made by Hart and
Taylor are similar to those found in the Keller complaint. This paper will focus
on the Keller case as it was filed first and is further along in the stages of
litigation.
 
[video=youtube;n725VxPWJs4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n725VxPWJs4[/video]

DUDE! That is hilarious. That song randomly popped into my head like 2 days ago. Thats crazy.
 
2k college hoops? Can I start a freshman MyPlayer and continue his career in 2k? One can dream.
 
Not sure if you can anymore, but you could do essentially the same thing with NCAA and Madden. I remember making a guy on my gamecube and then importing him to Madden. I just envisioning 2k taking it to a whole new level. Imagine going into that 'Rookie Showcase' fresh out of college and having to be humbled again. They should make a conversion so that a 99 college player imports as like a 75 pro. Damn it'd be so awesome.
 
Just an update on the court case that prompted the NCAA to not renew the L's with EA


http://www.vg247.com/2013/07/31/us-...t-claim-over-player-likenesses-in-ncaa-games/




Wed, Jul 31, 2013 | 20:52 BST
Story by Stephany Nunneley

US Court of Appeals tosses EA’s First Amendment claim over player likenesses in NCAA games

The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that EA cannot use the First Amendment as a defense to justify using student-athletes likenesses in video games without their permission.

According to the ruling against Electronic Arts and the NCAA, the case will be remanded back to the trial court where the case will proceed against all defendants.

The case was originally filed on May 5, 2009, in US District Court in Northern California, by Sam Keller, a former starting quarterback for Arizona State University and University of Nebraska.

Keller and his attorneys at Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP claim that EA’s NCAA games use the athletes’ likenesses, accurately depicting the height, age, weight and other information, without permission.

“The Court of Appeals confirmed that EA’s defense – the First Amendment claim – was fundamentally and fatally flawed,” said Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman.

“We expect that when we appear before the trial court again this fall, the defendants will have a very difficult time mounting a new defense for their blatant exploitation of student-athletes.

“Today’s ruling, combined with the NCAA’s decision not to renew its license, speaks volumes about the actions of the defendants. We are confident that EA and the NCAA made millions of dollars at the expense of student-athletes by improperly taking property belonging to the athletes and the athletes alone.

“This ruling will give us a chance not only to recover the value of the images for the college athletes, but also to punish EA and the NCAA for intentionally profiting off of things they knew were off limits to them.”

A status call on the case is scheduled for September 5.


The suit alleges EA Sports knowingly used the likenesses of real NCAA players for its college basketball and football game, but under invented names, and claims the two companies conspired to deny players due royalties.

The NCAA recently chose not to renew its relationship with EA Sports following a successful monopoly lawsuit spearheaded by the same law firm. The chief attorney in the case against EAs aid this was a move designed to evade responsibility.


EA Sports signed up with the CLCinstead.



The thing that about this is if there is monetary payment out it's going to have to be to each player included in the game over the history of the franchise, or at least the ones that sign up for the class action suite.

So the next question that comes to mind:

Will EA settle out of court and if not will the settlement amount reached by the court be large enough to sink EA shortly afterward, meaning with in 5 years after it's reached as a verdict.
 

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