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EA tackled by more sports license suits

By Brendan Sinclair, GameSpotPosted Sep 30, 2009 3:15 pm PT

Browns superfan, former UNC football player, and boxers' association have publisher on defense regarding Madden NFL, NCAA games, and Fight Night Round 4.

Former Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown's suit against Electronic Arts over his unnamed likeness appearing in Madden NFL games has been dismissed, but the publisher's courtroom battles are by no means over. In the past three months, three new likeness lawsuits concerning the publisher's various sports games have hit courts around the country.

"If it pleases the court, may I suggest a 10-minute recess so I can go walkies?"

Brown isn't the only Cleveland sports icon taking issue with Electronic Arts' Madden NFL franchise. In July, John Big Dawg Thompson (yes, that's his legal name), the mask-wearing pack leader of Cleveland's Dawg Pound, filed a complaint against EA in the Cuyahoga Country Court of Common Pleas seeking restitution for the alleged unauthorized and unlicensed use of his Big Dawg persona in Madden NFL 09.

Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame's inaugural Hall of Fans class in 1999, the Big Dawg character sports a bug-eyed dogface mask, orange hardhat, oversize dog bone, and a Browns jersey with the number "98." A similarly outfitted fan wearing a "92" jersey can be seen in Madden NFL 09 in the same section of the Cleveland Browns' stadium where Thompson appears during the team's home games. Thompson is seeking damages in excess of $25,000 and that EA be prevented from selling the game or using the Big Dawg character without permission in the future.

While Thompson has the publisher in court over its pro football sim, EA Sports' NCAA basketball and football games have drawn another suit. Earlier this month, former University of North Carolina left guard Bryon Bishop filed suit against EA, as well as the National Collegiate Athletic Association and its licensing arm.

Bishop, who is seeking class-action status for his suit, claims that the trio has conspired to violate the NCAA's own by-laws prohibiting the for-profit use of amateur athletes by including likenesses--but not names--of current athletes in its NCAA-branded games. In those games, players only bear a number corresponding to an actual student athlete and are typically given the same height, weight, skin color, hairstyle, and home state as their real-life counterparts.

The suit seeks damages for all amateur athletes whose likenesses have been included as such in EA's NCAA games, as well as for the games publisher and its partners to give up all profits garnered from those titles. A similar suit was filed in May by former Arizona State and University of Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller.

Fight Night Round 4 has spawned disputes both in and out of the ring.

Finally, EA is facing a suit filed earlier this month by sports management company Fighters, Inc. Founded in 2007, Fighters, Inc. is a group licensing organization with a goal to be for boxing what official players associations are for other sports. The company is suing EA over Fight Night Round 4, claiming the publisher included clients like Kelly Pavlik, Jorge Arce, and Fernando Montiel in violation of exclusive group licensing agreements they had signed with Fighters, Inc.

The licensing group further claims that EA willfully violated the deals with its boxers, and continued to do so after Fight Night Round 4's release, pursuing fighters like Andre Berto and Andre Ward for downloadable content updates for the game. Fighters, Inc. is seeking at least $25 million in actual damages, with punitive and statutory awards on top.

EA declined to address any of the three cases, saying it had no comment on pending litigation.

112 Comments

  • BLKCrystilMage

    Posted Oct 18, 2009 11:18 am PT

    Seriously, who gives a crap about the Browns? They're even worse than the damn Bengals.

  • pb1285n

    Posted Oct 18, 2009 6:11 am PT

    to blaznwiipspman1:

    Oh get over yourself. Do you even know anything about the "hot coffee" lawsuit?

    1. McDonalds had over 700 suits that were settled out of court due to coffee burns. McDonalds for years served their coffee at temperatures reaching 190 degrees. To compare, coffee at home is normal served at around 135 degrees.

    2. The woman that eventually became famous due to the lawsuit suffered third degree burns over 6% of her body because the brewed their coffee at 185 degrees and required skin grafting and years of treatment.

    3. She only sued because McDonalds refused to pick up the cost of her medical treatment.

    4. This wasn't about labeling coffee hot, this was about serving a beverage at a dangerously high temperature.

    Oh and why shouldn't this guy sue? For years the NCAA has refused to allow players to seek out endorsements while they make a profit.

  • blaznwiipspman1

    Posted Oct 17, 2009 12:13 pm PT

    lol USA is a joke, this kind of stuff wouldn't even be given a second thought in Canada and the rest of the world. Only in USA can you sue for coffee being too hot and become a millionaire

  • corespoon

    Posted Oct 10, 2009 2:10 pm PT

    good maybe madden can't make anymore crap games and now someone like 2k can pick up.

  • Tombackman_5

    Posted Oct 5, 2009 4:03 pm PT

    America, where being recognized is a punishable violation.

  • Thatsmypunk

    Posted Oct 5, 2009 1:26 pm PT

    It's not longer "hey look at me I'm in a video game" it's "hey look at me I'm in a video game time to sue somebody".

  • dzimm

    Posted Oct 4, 2009 5:19 pm PT

    madden75: "The Big Dawg guy actually has a case, as he is obviously unique, EA using his image without his consent IS illegal."

    They're not using his likeness, they're using the likeness of a cheap Halloween mask that he happens to wear. If anybody had a case it would be whoever designed the mask.

  • chimera23

    Posted Oct 4, 2009 1:32 pm PT

    Eagles FTW!!

  • frogman666

    Posted Oct 4, 2009 1:37 am PT

    there is no way to prove that's big dog anymore then the guy who was wearing masks to avoid traffic tickets I'm sure there is more then one fat guy who wears a dog mask just like the cheese heads in GB

  • cjasko94

    Posted Oct 3, 2009 3:48 pm PT

    Haha I'm a Cleveland Browns fan. And I think the Cleveland Cavs will get a win before they do.
    Big Doggg!!!

  • inline243

    Posted Oct 3, 2009 7:36 am PT

    If college players are suing EA then why don't they also sue every TV station, website, college, newspaper, college magazine, and jersey company for actually using their names to make a profit??????? Colleges make way more money on tickets, clothing, etc.. than EA ever will.

  • glesniak

    Posted Oct 2, 2009 4:48 pm PT

    If you agree with it or not, that's fine. But you have to remember, EA is making millions of dollars off this product and is using these images and persona in order to gain profit. Do you buy a game for the likeness of these people? No, but you do get entertainment value from it, and therefore purchase it. Giving EA all the profits without sharing with the people who help promote it. Even if it is a little part of the product. Bottom line, EA is making millions of dollars and these people in these lawsuits aren't seeing a penny from it.

  • Sparty_On

    Posted Oct 2, 2009 12:47 pm PT

    These lawsuits are baseless and should be throw'in out of court the people suing EA are greedy Sam Keller who's just upset he didn't get millions in the NFL. I think it would be cool to have my likeness in Madden, NCAA Football.

  • Hollaback77

    Posted Oct 2, 2009 11:50 am PT

    Looks like a bunch of idiots looking for a handout to me.

  • PodXCOM

    Posted Oct 2, 2009 9:57 am PT

    That mask is ugly!

  • eric1996

    Posted Oct 2, 2009 5:08 am PT

    without names they should be able to do what they want. ea ponies up alot of cash to get the nfl licenses to begin w/ this lawsuits are supid
    now if they use their names w/out permission then thats another story
    i think everyone is looking for a payout

  • gretz802

    Posted Oct 1, 2009 9:17 pm PT

    Big Dawg should get smacked in the face cuz it's not his real image that's being used... anyone can wear that mask. Unless he has that image trademarked, he has no case... it's an image associated w/ the franchise (just like Browns fans who throw beer bottles at the referees). Personally, I'd rather be wearing a brown paper bag over my head if I were at those games.

    As far as the NCAA goes, a player loses eligibility if their likeness is used in ANY promotional material.... it's a pretty lame rule. So, when I see something like this done w/o a player's consent, it makes me sick. A friend of mine nearly lost his eligibility because his photo was to be used for a summer basketball camp brochure (luckily, he was able to have the camp remove the photo before sending them out) . The NCAA is a joke of an organization and pulls in loads of ca$h every year and has no shame in breaking their own rules in these situations. Of course, we all want to be in a game, but EA should at least not make it so obvious by including each person's full bio & jersey # right out of the box. This disgusts me. Take it back to the old days where you had to manually edit the players name/bio/etc. on your own.

  • godzillavskong

    Posted Oct 1, 2009 5:53 pm PT

    This is silly! Only in America. I am a huge Carolina fan, but their suit is the most ridiculous. They are trying to say that EA is using their likenesses? Gimme a break! I know EA is a huge company, who seems to corner the market, but these claims are total rubbish.

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