Quote:
Originally Posted by RainMaker
Just to play devil's advocate here, but EA is making money off these guys. Maybe not necessarily Sam Keller, but guys like Tim Tebow. People are buying this game to play as those guys. If each player was randomly generated, it would take a ton of lure out of the game.
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Devil's advocate right back -- ESPN makes a ton of money broadcasting the likeness of Tim Tebow in highlights. If they didn't have Tebow highlights, it would take a lure out of their broadcasts. Where do you draw the line for protecting your likeness?
What's in the game that would intrude upon Sam Keller's likeness? His height, weight, hometown, jersey number. Is your height, weight and hometown intellectual property? At first blush I would say no.
The players have ratings. That's pretty subjective. And again, what's the difference in what EA is doing in rating Sam Keller than say Rivals.com did in rating Sam Keller coming out of high school. Why doesn't Keller sue Rivals.com? Are your rated abilities intellectual property belonging to you? I would say no.
The only area where Keller might have an argument is that there is a graphical 3D representation of him in the game. Does that game character resemble Sam Keller physically? The next player I see in a game who actually resemembles the real person will be the first.
Combining all the elements, maybe Keller does have a case. I think you have to dismiss the name elements of the lawsuit. EA doesn't ship the game with real names, it's only done by fans for free. There's no money to be made there.
Ultimately the question is whether the information incluced in the game belongs to Sam Keller. The precedent of the MLB lawsuit over fantasy baseball would indicate to me now. This is slightly more involved since we're not just talking about names and statistics. But the precedent would seem to favor EA.
Frankly, this lawsuit has the potential to be a complete disaster for the players. If Keller goes through with this and loses, just consider how little control players would have over their likenesses. Without a legal precedent, there's generally a wide respect of the use of players' likenesses. If he loses, katy bar the door.