Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Likeness Lawsuit Against EA Sports Thrown Out
EA Sports is mired in multiple lawsuits (including one involving 6,000 former NFL players) regarding the publisher's use of their likenesses in its Madden and NCAA football franchises, but the load got lighter by one today as a judge threw out a lawsuit from former Rutgers QB Ryan Hart.
U.S. district judge Freda Wolfson in New Jersey ruled that EA's right of free expression under the First Amendment outweighs Hart's abilities to control his likeness and its usage. Furthermore, Judge Wolfson says that the ability in NCAA Football to customize Hart's name, abilities, physical attributes, etc. weakens his argument. "The image serves as an art-imitating-life starting point for the game playing experience," she wrote.
Hart is appealing the decision, and his lawyer, Tim McIlwain, told Reuters, "Millions of dollars are being made, and he’s not getting his part of that pot. How is this allowed to happen?"
Earlier this year, a different judge dismissed former Arizona State/Nebraska QB Sam Keller's lawsuit (also related to the use of his likeness) against EA Sports, but despite these legal victories for EA in particular, the issue of collegiate athlete representation and the lack of compensation from the NCAA and its licensing company continues.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
