4 ms·

Surely there must already exist some legal protections? I seem to recall certain professional (football? basketball?) players successfully suing EA Games over u

• krapp 9y ago
  >Surely there must already exist some legal protections? Almost certainly, I think there are companies whose entire business is to handle the image of dead celebrities like Marilyn Monroe, but should there be? An actor or athlete's performance is a creative act, and could reasonably be considered intellectual property, but their appearance is an act of nature. Why should that have any special legal protection?
• 5555624 9y ago
  It was NCAA athletes that sued EA games. (https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/09/ea-sports-settle-lawsuit-over-using-college-athletes-its-video-games/310522/ https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/09/ea...)
  • bsenftner 9y ago
    The distinction is it was NCAA as a whole, acting as a single legal entity. The individual athletes were/are powerless against the wealth EA can throw at their legal team.
    • 5555624 9y ago
      >Essentially each player who has appeared in the football and basketball games marketed by EA in the last decade -- approximately 125,000 men -- are eligible for settlement money. (https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/ea-sports-settles-suits-thousands-of-players-eligible-for-money/ https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/ea-sports-se...) In this case, it was clearly not the NCAA as a whole. The NCAA was against the case because it would mean athletes being paid.