EA Won't Have to Pay Madden Creator $11 Million Sum

[RaychelSnr]

Last summer, a jury ruled in favor of Robin Antonick and awarded him an $11 million sum in unpaid royalties to be paid from EA due to his role in the creation of the Madden franchise.

Things aren't as rosy for the Madden creator today, as a Federal Judge overturned the ruling this week.

In the ruling from U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, it was cited that there was no evidence to prove that EA used Antonick's work without credit. Antonick worked on the original Apple II version of the game, but was seeking royalties for Madden games created after Antonick's departure from the company.

"Without the opportunity to view each of the versions (of the later games), the jury had no basis for evaluating whether the changes (the expert) addressed altered each subsequent game," Breyer said.

Antonick's lawyers do plan to appeal the ruling, stating that the evidence does show EA used his source code without permission.

[Gotmadskillzson]

We need a federal judge to over rule the NCAA lawsuit for we can have a college football game on the next gen.

[Sheba2011]

Looks like EA has a judge in their very deep pockets. It's a shame what the legal system has become in this country, what's the point of even having a jury anymore if judges completely ignore their part in the legal process. $11 million is a drop in the hat to EA, someone needs to check this judges bank account for a payment of $10 million....

[Fistandilius]

This isn't done yet. He's still got more appeals.

[Cletus]

Quote: Originally Posted by Sheba2011

Looks like EA has a judge in their very deep pockets. It's a shame what the legal system has become in this country, what's the point of even having a jury anymore if judges completely ignore their part in the legal process. $11 million is a drop in the hat to EA, someone needs to check this judges bank account for a payment of $10 million....

What? The judge said the jury couldn't prove it based on the evidence. How is a jury of people who have never played Madden be able to dig through source code and tell the difference from an Apple 2 to ps2? Why would EA pay a judge 10 million just to save 1 million? EA doesn't care about their rep enough to go through all that.

The problem with the justice system is either a) people do not understand how it works or b) thinks they were done an injustice by losing the case.

[Hooe]

I don't quite understand what a side-by-side viewing of the games would accomplish in proving that the source code is identical or remotely similar. It strikes me that that's like proving plagiarism of a book by analyzing the cover art - i.e. not effective or relevant whatsoever - but what do I know.

Beyond that, I don't have an opinion on this matter.