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EA Sports And Collegiate Licensing Company Settle Likeness Lawsuit
EA Sports and the Collegiate Licensing Company have settled with plaintiffs Sam Keller, Ed O' Bannon, and others over a class-action lawsuit regarding player names, images, and likenesses.
The O'Bannon and Keller cases have dogged EA for years, and similar cases (like the one involving Rutgers QB Ryan Hart) regarding the company's use of player likenesses have been thrown out by lower courts on First Amendment grounds. How or if this settlement influences cases like Hart's is unknown at this time.
Terms of the settlement were not given, but it specifically states that it does not include the case against the NCAA, which will continue and which the association says it will take to the Supreme Court if necessary.
Earlier today, Electronic Arts announced that it would not release its college football title using licenses with the Collegiate Licensing Company as originally planned, and that there would be no college football titles from the company for the forseeable future.
[Source: CBS Sports via AL.com]
Our Take:
Unfortunately the terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but the timing between this announcement and EA's declaration that it was halting its college football plans are awfully close.
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