NCAA Football 14 News Post

The NCAA Settles Video Game Lawsuit For $20 Million

12:55 PM - June 9, 2014 by RaychelSnr

The NCAA announced today it has settled the video games likenesses case brought upon by Sam Keller for $20 million. This is in addition to the $40 million EA and the CLC have agreed to pay to student athletes at certain schools who's likenesses were used without compensation.

“With the games no longer in production and the plaintiffs settling their claims with EA and the Collegiate Licensing Company, the NCAA viewed a settlement now as an appropriate opportunity to provide complete closure to the video game plaintiffs,” said NCAA Chief Legal Officer Donald Remy.

The complete details of the settlement remain to be finalized and this news also includes that the NCAA has removed their legal grievances against EA and the CLC as well.

Now that all of the video game likeness cases have been settled, for a college game to exist in the future the NCAA rules and bylaws will have to be rewritten to allow for student-athletes to receive compensation for their likenesses being used by partners.

At this time that is something which is being worked on by the major conferences, and it's possible the legal structures could exist in the future for a return of college sport video games. We'll be watching the developments closely!

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# 21 Cam Fan @ 06/13/14 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JLoco11


	Not quite sure what you're reading, but clearly it's from a sportswriter, and not a legal expert on how the proceedings of the court system actually works. The Plaintiff's (O'Bannon) case alone is scheduled for 3 weeks of witnesses... that doesn't include the defense questioning and rebuttal witnesses. It will most likely last 8 weeks, so if that qualifies as "mere" weeks, that's still a long initial trial. But that doesn't include the number of appeals either party would have, in particular O'Bannon if he loses. He filed in California, which means he could have the potential for 6 appeals in the state if he loses each one. The NCAA has the potential for 4 appeals if they lose. And there is no question, someone will appeal this when they lose because this is uncharted territory for sports lawsuits. Unlike sports cases of the past (MLB baseball with free agency & collusion, NHL lockout marketing dollars), this isn't a sports lawsuit against a company. It's against an association or a membership in the NCAA. They're not a company like MLB or NFL. And in United States law, no case history has changed membership rules or membership application/eligibility requirements other than discrimination laws (which doesn't apply here). If the court agrees with O'Bannon, this will be the first law in the country to alter a membership's eligibility rights based on money. If the court agrees with the NCAA, this will be the first ruling that states people give up their likeness rights on the basis of disclosure agreements to participate in said membership. Either way, the ruling is going to set a legal precedent... and no legal precedent is set with just 1 court ruling. It's going to be appealed, and appealed again, and appealed again. If the NCAA is not willing to settle with O'Bannon, this is going to be a long drawn out legal fight. They didn't mind settling with Keller, but this is the case they don't want to lose. Now if the NCAA/major conferences change their membership laws outside of this case, that alters the legal proceedings, but look at how fast they move. How long have coaches asked for football playoff and it occurred 15 years late. How long did recruiting rules catch up to social media or food regulations. The NCAA moves sssssllllllloooooooowwwwwwww. So that's not a change that will happen immediately. Conferences & coaches want change and are threatening to secede, but not all schools are on board with the changes being presented. Big schools want change, small schools want protection.

Actually ESPN's legal analyst predicts a "split" decision. O'Bannon will prevail with jerseys and video games but not broadcast rights. Who's to say how long the NCAA will make a decision. They've already granted a waiver to the current players in regards to settlements. I work for government which is able to grant waivers with just the submission of a letter. I don't think anyone on this site has the complete legal competence to speak on every issue. I'm just stating my own opinions (just like everyone else).

# 22 MichaelAngeloTMNT @ 06/15/14 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cam Fan


	Keep in mind that an injunction to allow players to seek compensation (likely in the form of group licensing) is what is really at stake in this trial. If Judge Wilken rules in O'Bannon's favor (and the NCAA doesn't appeal) things will move QUICKLY with regard to EA pouncing on the opportunity to produce CFB16.

Agree, we will see a college football game in the next few years. I'm unsure if we will see a NCAA Basketball game though. Hopefully, 2K will put one out. I was mad at O'Bannon at first, but now he might pave the way for NCAA video games in the future. O'Bannon might be my hero...

# 23 barsoffury @ 06/15/14 10:57 PM

The earliest we see the next NCAA football game would be 16 but I'm thinking 17 or 18 realistically. Many schools still won't want to opt in to this type of thing until everything else is ironed out. Football video game money is just a drop in the bucket.

# 24 Cam Fan @ 06/16/14 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barsoffury


	The earliest we see the next NCAA football game would be 16 but I'm thinking 17 or 18 realistically. Many schools still won't want to opt in to this type of thing until everything else is ironed out. Football video game money is just a drop in the bucket.

Yeah, I'm being VERY wishful to have a game next year. All I know is that this trial is extremely intriguing.

# 25 TimLawNYC @ 06/17/14 03:04 PM

Sorry guys, but I actually see this settlement as significantly BAD news for getting new college video games anytime soon. The best outcome from a video game fan's perspective would have been a court's ruling that the "likeness" theory wasn't a valid claim; then it would be harder for players to bring similar claims in the future. The settlement solved nothing in a legal sense, so future athletes could bring the same type of lawsuit if they (or their "likenesses") are featured in games.

The only way we see a game now is if the amateur-athlete model is completely scrapped and players begin to get paid for participation in college athletics; then the players could choose to license their personas for use in video games (just like the NFL players do for Madden). But there is still a lot that would need to happen for this type of system to become a reality, and there are a lot of "ifs" standing in the way of a clear legal path to a new licensed college video game.

If we ever get a new game at all, it is at least several years away.

# 26 crashhat69 @ 06/18/14 06:26 PM

So they're not going to make another ncaa football game because the college players weren't getting money from it?

# 27 MichaelAngeloTMNT @ 06/18/14 06:35 PM

EA Exec stated today that they want to make NCAA Football games in the future. Now, just have figure out a way to pay these players and they could finally get real players in the game. Praise, Ed O'Bannon, he might have unintentionally, made NCAA video games even better. 90% sure that we will have a NCAA Football 16 or 17. EA was making $80 million a year on NCAA alone.

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