Note how ESPN decided to make Sam Keller an Arizona State QB (which he was, briefly, but graduated from Nebraska).
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/33527/whats-at-stake-in-the-ea-sports-suit
What's at stake in the EA Sports suit?
By Eamonn Brennan
Two things:
The principle that says former college athletes don't own the rights to their likenesses. It starts with video games, but it could extend to TV networks, highlights packages, promotional materials, all of it. From there, the floodgates open, and who knows what comes gushing out.
One billion dollars. (Cue Dr. Evil laugh ... now.)
Yes, $1 billion. That estimate comes from CNBC reporter Darren Rovell, who took a look at the ongoing class-action lawsuit brought by former UCLA Bruin Ed O'Bannon and former Arizona State quarterback Sam Keller and concluded that eventual damages from the suit could be huge for the company, as much as 25 percent of its current annual revenue. How did he arrive at that figure? Rovell's back of the envelope math adds the amount that could be paid to each athlete for each video game release -- around $1,000 per player -- and would include all football and men's basketball players from 2007 to the present:
If all athletes are included in the class, and EA loses the case, the total cost to EA would be $334.5 million, but the Indiana publicity rights statute says that the award could be trebled if the violation was ?knowing, willful or intentional.? That means that a loss for EA here could mean more than $1 billion in damages.
There is some room for nuance here. The "knowing, willful, or intentional" statute seems rather vague, and it's not certain exactly how many players would be able to claim their likenesses were used in the game without their consent. If you've ever played an EA Sports college title, you'd probably agree that just about every Division I player could make some version of that argument. After all, the games use numbers and visual facsimiles. The plaintiffs will certainly argue as much.
Of course, the fascinating portion of this case resides next to number one above; this suit could have massive effects on the way the NCAA, video game companies, and TV rights holders manage this quandary in the future. For the NCAA, the outcome could mean a massive out-of-court settlement. It could pave the road toward a day in which players are paid for at least some portion of the revenue they generate for the NCAA each year.
But those are long-view outcomes; there's a long way to go before they become more than the subject of legal speculation. For EA Sports, on the other hand, the costs are much more direct, immediate, and self-evident. That, my friends, is a chunk of change.
Copy of the allegation filed with the California courts:
http://www.smplegal.com/pdf/7-28-10-ORDER-DENYING-EA-Motion-to-Dismiss.pdf
Touche you sonofabitch. Touche.
