Legal Niches

ESPN's Outside the Lines Examines EA Sports Suit

By John Keefer

The class-action lawsuit by college quarterback Sam Keller against the NCAA and EA Sports was front and center over the weekend in an eight-minute segment on ESPN's Outside the Lines.

The suit is contesting the use of college athlete likenesses in the EA Sports' NCAA Football franchise without the permission of the athletes. Even though the game does not use the players' names, according to NCAA rules, the game does go to great lengths to match the look and actions of a particular player to the number they wear. However, the names can be downloaded and applied to the game using EA's Locker Room function.

The show chats with Keller and his attorneys, and talks to game journalist Aaron Boulding, who seems to have been added to represent the views of EA Sports and the NCAA. Both entities declined to be interviewed for the piece, but the show did delve into the court documents to present the legal stance of the parties.

The show also took a look at fan reaction, which blasted Keller and his mediocre stint as QB at Nebraska.

While the show didn't break any new ground on the lawsuit, it did a good job of rounding up the available facts to get anyone up to speed who hasn't been aware of it.

Full post as published by GamePolitics.com on December 28, 2009 (boomark / email).