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Report: EA requested college athlete likenesses prior to NCAA lawsuit
The NCAA reportedly considered licensing the names and likeness of student athletes to Electronic Arts for its college sports games before the publisher faced its class action suit led by Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller in May 2009. Documents from the ongoing Ed O'Bannon v. NCAA lawsuit reveal that EA sought to depict the athletes "just as they are shown on TV broadcasts" as of 2007, AL.com reported. "This means putting student-athlete names on rosters and on jerseys in the game, and secondarily using facial likenesses (this could be done in stages)," the NCAA document in question stated. The Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) was also involved in the discussion, as documents stating the CLC's position involved in the O'Bannon lawsuit said that "using the rosters in the games, and maybe the names of student-athletes on jerseys in the game would be worthwhile." The documents also reportedly state that the NCAA was aware that EA already based rosters for its college sports games on real-life athletes. While EA and the CLC settled its lawsuit with student athletes to the tune of $40 million last year after canceling its college football game in development for this year, the O'Bannon v. NCAA lawsuit only just reached a new milestone today: U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ordered that settlement talks between both parties begin. The NCAA also sued EA and the CLC in November, alleging that EA failed to agree to compensate the NCAA for losses related to legal claims from student athletes after its proposed settlement. [Image: NCAA]
NCAA sues EA over likeness settlement [Update]
The NCAA has sued Electronic Arts and the Collegiate Licensing Company over its proposed settlement with student athletes from late September, Bloomberg reported. The $40 million settlement was in regards to the use of student athlete likeness, an ongoing legal dispute that stemmed back to May 2009. As a result of the string of lawsuits, EA canceled its college football game that was set to launch in 2014, which started with the NCAA's decision to not renew its licensing contract with the publisher in July. Filed in a Georgia state court on November 4, the lawsuit from the NCAA alleges that EA did not agree to compensate the NCAA for losses related to legal claims from student athletes, and that the publisher did not have liability insurance to do so. EA's proposed $40 million settlement would negate the company's contractual obligations to idemnify the NCAA for any liability and attorney fees related to the lawsuits. We have contacted both EA and the CLC for comment. Update: A Collegiate Licensing Company representative told Joystiq that "CLC is caught in the middle of a dispute between NCAA and EA which should not involve us. CLC has valued relationships with both the NCAA and EA and while we hope they can soon resolve their dispute, we see no reason for CLC to be involved." The NCAA has declined to comment on the story. Update #2: EA has also declined to comment on the story.
Report: EA to pay $40 million in student athlete settlement
Electronic Arts' settlement in the ongoing student athlete lawsuits dating back to 2009, filed yesterday, amounts to a $40 million, The New York Times reports. The settlement was announced after EA Sports GM of American Football Cam Weber revealed that the publisher's 2014 college football game has been canceled. Among the cancellation of next year's game and the re-evaluation of its college football series, Weber said the publisher has "been stuck in the middle of a dispute between the NCAA and student-athletes who seek compensation for playing college football." While there's no word on how the settlement amount will be divided among the class, it will reportedly cost EA $40 million. We've contacted the Lanier Law Firm's attorney on the case and EA for confirmation, and we will update as we learn more.
SEC branding will not be included in future EA college football games [Update: Big Ten, Pac-12 too]
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) announced it will no longer license its trademarks for EA's future college football games. Teams from the SEC won the last seven straight BCS National Championship games in college football, so EA's next college football game will be without the branding of the sport's most successful conference. "Each school makes its own individual decision regarding whether or not to license their trademarks for use in the EA Sports game(s)," the SEC said in a statement to ESPN. "The Southeastern Conference has chosen not to do so moving forward. Neither the SEC, its member universities, nor the NCAA have ever licensed the right to use the name or likeness of any student to EA Sports." The news comes nearly a month after NCAA opted to not renew its partnership with EA, pulling all NCAA marks from future games from the publisher. EA will continue to make college football games without the NCAA through the use of a non-exclusive three-year deal with the Collegiate Licensing Company. At the end of July, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied an appeal by EA in its ongoing student athlete likeness lawsuit. We've contacted both EA and the CLC for comment, and will update as we learn more. Update: A CLC representative tells Joystiq that "150 collegiate institutions, including SEC schools, have approved renewal of the EA college football license, to begin with the 2015 edition. As with any licensed product, individual schools continue to make their own decisions." Update #2: The Pac-12 and Big Ten conferences are reportedly joining the SEC, and will no longer license their brands to EA. "The Pac-12 Conference has decided not to renew its current licensing agreement with EA Sports that allows the use of Conference trademarks," Pac-12 spokesman Erik Hardenbergh told CBS Sports. "Our member institutions continue to make decisions on their trademarks on a school-by-school basis."
EA motions to dismiss NCAA lawsuit before it becomes class action
EA asked a judge to dismiss the latest complaint in a lawsuit brought on by college athletes alleging EA, the NCAA and the Collegiate Licensing Company used players' names and likenesses in games without proper compensation. EA motioned to dismiss the plaintiffs' third amended complaint, which added six current NCAA athletes with the goal of certifying it as a class action lawsuit. EA argued that the plaintiffs' new complaint pleaded "no facts to support their theory that EA participated in an antitrust conspiracy with the NCAA and CLC." This wasn't a new strategy – EA and the CLC previously argued they were following NCAA rules and were therefore not involved in an antitrust conspiracy, and EA repeated this defense in the motion for dismissal. This was the second lawsuit against EA from the law firm Hagens Berman. The first case alleged EA violated antitrust laws by entering into exclusive deals with the AFL, NFL and NCAA. EA settled in this case in 2012 for $27 million and the loss of its exclusive licensing deal with the NCAA. This month, the NCAA announced it would no longer work with EA, exclusively or otherwise. Steve Berman of Hagens Berman said he viewed the dead deal between EA and the NCAA as a direct result of the pressure of litigation. The court will rule on the class status of the current lawsuit, and respond to EA's motion to dismiss, by September 5.
EA holds license for non-exclusive college football games for three years
Earlier this week, the NCAA announced it would no longer provide its name to EA's college sports series of games, but the publisher will continue to work with the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC), the entity that handles trademark licensing and marketing services for universities. A source familiar with the agreement tells Joystiq that EA's current licensing extension with the CLC is for three years starting on July 1, 2014, and is for a non-exclusive college football game. The source says EA was not going to renew its exclusive contract with the NCAA for at least five years, as stipulated by EA's proposed $27 million lawsuit settlement from July 2012. The lawsuit alleged that EA "violated antitrust and consumer protection laws and overcharged consumers" for its football games due to its use of exclusive licenses with the NFL, NCAA and AFL. NCAA announced this week that it will not renew its contract with EA, and that NCAA Football 14 "will be the last to include the NCAA's name and logo." EA's statement on the matter revealed plans to continue development on a next-gen college football game using licensing provided by CLC. The continued agreement with CLC enables EA to develop games using the branding of college programs across the nation as it did in the NCAA Football series, without the NCAA mark.
Former NCAA athletes' lawsuit against EA is so on
EA's request to dismiss a class action lawsuit from former NCAA athletes has been denied, meaning the trial will movie forward and EA stands to lose more than $1 billion if found at fault.The former NCAA athletes claim EA conspired with the NCAA and the CLC to have players sign away their likenesses and names to be used in video games without compensation. The players allege that in order to participate in NCAA sports they were required to sign a form allowing EA their likenesses in games, even after their college sports careers ended.The federal judge previously dismissed other claims in the lawsuit, but denied EA's attempt to have an antitrust claim thrown out.EA is facing more than a few lawsuits at the moment, but it did recently settle a two-year-old lawsuit with Activision, with as-yet undisclosed concessions from either side.
