Legal question regarding draft classes

[Billy4NY]

There are a few draft classes out there that have draft prospects that are almost identical replicas of real-life college football players. At a minimum they have their name and college, and you could probably argue that everything else is just a resemblance, but not identical.

My question is this: if EA had to stop making money off player likenesses in their NCAA game, how would someone interpret the use of these draft classes or prospects in a player's Twitch, YouTube, or other social media sources where they might be receiving compensation for their posted material?

If you drafted a top QB prospect that is well known, I'll void names, and then streamed some of your CFM games AND have enough viewers to be receiving compensation for your material, couldn't the argument be made that you are making money off their likeness now?

Just curious to everyone's thoughts on this.

[timhere1970]

you could be sued if you were worth going after. Also, could receive a desist lettter. I am not a lawyer but i did see a billboard for one on the way to work this morning,

[kenp86]

Same could be said about networks showing any college sport on tv. They make money from these kids. So do we ban the networks from showing these games?

[Billy4NY]

Quote: Originally Posted by kenp86

Same could be said about networks showing any college sport on tv. They make money from these kids. So do we ban the networks from showing these games?

That is a good comparison. Although, they do have the "rights" to the NCAA and all schools, which I assume includes players.

[brandon27]

Quote: Originally Posted by kenp86

Same could be said about networks showing any college sport on tv. They make money from these kids. So do we ban the networks from showing these games?

You're missing the point here.

The networks you're referring to pay broadcasting rights fees to air the games. They are well within their rights to profit from them at that point.

Personally I think it's hard to prove EA is profiting in any way from users editing draft classes. Wasnt the issue with NCAA games the fact that the game shipped with default rosters that did not have names, but the rest of the players likeness was still there, from weight, to height, number, equipment style etc. etc.

[Billy4NY]

Quote: Originally Posted by brandon27

You're missing the point here. The networks you're referring to pay broadcasting rights fees to air the games. They are well within their rights to profit from them at that point. Personally I think it's hard to prove EA is profiting in any way from users editing draft classes. Wasnt the issue with NCAA games the fact that the game shipped with default rosters that did not have names, but the rest of the players likeness was still there, from weight, to height, number, equipment style etc. etc.

My question is not about EA profiting though. My question is about Twitch and YouTube users who receive income based on your viewer volume. If they showed content of a M19 game with "real" college football players in the game and were advertising it as such to gain viewers (i.e. more income), couldn't that be interpreted the same way?

[T4VERTS]

Quote: Originally Posted by Billy4NY

There are a few draft classes out there that have draft prospects that are almost identical replicas of real-life college football players. At a minimum they have their name and college, and you could probably argue that everything else is just a resemblance, but not identical. My question is this: if EA had to stop making money off player likenesses in their NCAA game, how would someone interpret the use of these draft classes or prospects in a player's Twitch, YouTube, or other social media sources where they might be receiving compensation for their posted material? If you drafted a top QB prospect that is well known, I'll void names, and then streamed some of your CFM games AND have enough viewers to be receiving compensation for your material, couldn't the argument be made that you are making money off their likeness now? Just curious to everyone's thoughts on this.

It's complex, but the answer in most cases would be no at an individual level. The issue gets muddier when it's the game manufacture doing it as there are some misappropriation claims that come in to play in terms of advertising and merchandising.

[doubles]

EA Sports has no liability. They are user created classes and the users creating them aren't making any money from the draft classes.

I'm not a lawyer, but there doesn't seem to be anything dangerous about doing this. If the EA-generated classes were NCAA Football-styled (names changed but player likeness from real players) then that's another ball game. But there's no issue with this.

It's like Michael Jordan (as an example) couldn't sue for a draft class that included his likeness and name.

As for streaming, the money you make is likely not enough to raise the ire of College Football players.