Sam Keller's lawsuit against EA/NCAA

[Saunders]

College football was a great game. Madden is horrible. Keller just got his panties in a twist because he isn't making millions in the NFL and is/was trying to use this as his meal ticket.

He was a moron who got conned by the lawyers. They walk away with a small fortune. A better agreement could have been created, but idiots listened to the "millions of dollars" in "damages" but I am sure there was never a clear breakdown of how much per person, and too many people are not smart enough to ask ahead of time.

Yes, he may not have got much, but if he doesn't want them to make money of his name, it's his right.

They didn't. His name is nowhere to be found in the game. There's a player model that somewhat resembles Sam (albeit the virtual version was actually good), sure, but it's not even close to the egregious use of the players actual image used weekly by ESPN/BTN/Fox/CBS/etc....

 

[BIG ERN]

The NCAA and the colleges give these kids platforms to even go to the NBA or get a FREE 4 year degree to get a job. Anyone who was for them getting paid is a complete douche

 

[Saunders]

There is no way he went into the lawsuit expecting a fortune. You are talking about thousands of college players over several years. The payout wasn't going to be much.

And Keller/O'Bannon didn't kill college football video games. The NCAA and EA Sports greed killed college football video games.

False. I've been following this case quite closely since its inception. EA wanted to negotiate a new contract with the NCAA that allowed them to actually use player likenesses, vs a generic resemblance that only die hards would recognize for the vast majority of players. EA wanted to pay the players outright but the NCAA said no. EA counted with a delayed fund which set aside money for players for after they graduated, and again the NCAA denied the request. The scuttlebutt from a couple years ago is that they feared this would lead to a lawsuit over the TV money and a massive loss of revenue, or a change in the way TV is done.

 

[StPaulHusker]

There is no way he went into the lawsuit expecting a fortune. You are talking about thousands of college players over several years. The payout wasn't going to be much.

And Keller/O'Bannon didn't kill college football video games. The NCAA and EA Sports greed killed college football video games.

False. I've been following this case quite closely since its inception. EA wanted to negotiate a new contract with the NCAA which set aside money for players, and also allowed them to actually use player likenesses, vs a generic resemblance that only die hards would recognize for the vast majority of players. The NCAA denied the request and the scuttlebutt from a couple years ago is that they feared this would lead to a lawsuit over the TV money and a massive loss of revenue, or a change in the way TV is done.

I don't believe for a minute that EA Sports was going to willingly offer money to the players for their likeness prior to the lawsuit being filed. Furthermore I highly doubt past players were included. Billions of dollars have been made by the NCAA and EA Sports using these players likenesses. It was greed. no doubt in my mind.

 

[StPaulHusker]

The NCAA and the colleges give these kids platforms to even go to the NBA or get a FREE 4 year degree to get a job. Anyone who was for them getting paid is a complete douche

There is absolutely nothing written in a scholarship agreement that says the NCAA can use anyone's name or likeness without compensation. This could have possibly been avoided if they would have had that provision written in a scholarship agreement with a player.

 

[Saunders]

There is no way he went into the lawsuit expecting a fortune. You are talking about thousands of college players over several years. The payout wasn't going to be much.

And Keller/O'Bannon didn't kill college football video games. The NCAA and EA Sports greed killed college football video games.

False. I've been following this case quite closely since its inception. EA wanted to negotiate a new contract with the NCAA which set aside money for players, and also allowed them to actually use player likenesses, vs a generic resemblance that only die hards would recognize for the vast majority of players. The NCAA denied the request and the scuttlebutt from a couple years ago is that they feared this would lead to a lawsuit over the TV money and a massive loss of revenue, or a change in the way TV is done.

I don't believe for a minute that EA Sports was going to willingly offer money to the players for their likeness prior to the lawsuit being filed. Furthermore I highly doubt past players were included. Billions of dollars have been made by the NCAA and EA Sports using these players likenesses. It was greed. no doubt in my mind.

Well here you go:

Electronic Arts has settled with the plaintiffs of the Keller suit for $40 million in damages, paying money it owed college athletes for illegally using their likenesses in its college football and basketball video games. However, O'Bannon lawsuit plaintiffs claim in a recent court filing that they will present at trial evidence that EA wanted to pay the players, even though the NCAA wouldn't allow it, due to its amateurism rules.

The (plaintiffs) will present documentary evidence and testimony from Joel Linzner of EA at trial that while EA abided by the prohibition on paying college athletes for the use of their (likeness) in NCAA-lisenced videogames, it nonetheless wanted to obtain the rights for more precise likenesses and the names of every college athlete on each roster, for which EA was willing to pay more to the NCAA and the college athletes themselves.

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/6/4/5779102/ea-sports-ncaa-lawsuit-pay-players

 

[StPaulHusker]

There is no way he went into the lawsuit expecting a fortune. You are talking about thousands of college players over several years. The payout wasn't going to be much.

And Keller/O'Bannon didn't kill college football video games. The NCAA and EA Sports greed killed college football video games.

False. I've been following this case quite closely since its inception. EA wanted to negotiate a new contract with the NCAA which set aside money for players, and also allowed them to actually use player likenesses, vs a generic resemblance that only die hards would recognize for the vast majority of players. The NCAA denied the request and the scuttlebutt from a couple years ago is that they feared this would lead to a lawsuit over the TV money and a massive loss of revenue, or a change in the way TV is done.

I don't believe for a minute that EA Sports was going to willingly offer money to the players for their likeness prior to the lawsuit being filed. Furthermore I highly doubt past players were included. Billions of dollars have been made by the NCAA and EA Sports using these players likenesses. It was greed. no doubt in my mind.

Well here you go:

Electronic Arts has settled with the plaintiffs of the Keller suit for $40 million in damages, paying money it owed college athletes for illegally using their likenesses in its college football and basketball video games. However, O'Bannon lawsuit plaintiffs claim in a recent court filing that they will present at trial evidence that EA wanted to pay the players, even though the NCAA wouldn't allow it, due to its amateurism rules.

The (plaintiffs) will present documentary evidence and testimony from Joel Linzner of EA at trial that while EA abided by the prohibition on paying college athletes for the use of their (likeness) in NCAA-lisenced videogames, it nonetheless wanted to obtain the rights for more precise likenesses and the names of every college athlete on each roster, for which EA was willing to pay more to the NCAA and the college athletes themselves.

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/6/4/5779102/ea-sports-ncaa-lawsuit-pay-players

Fair enough. EA wasn't required to use the likenesses though. They chose to do it regardless of not paying the players.

 

[Saunders]

There is no way he went into the lawsuit expecting a fortune. You are talking about thousands of college players over several years. The payout wasn't going to be much.

And Keller/O'Bannon didn't kill college football video games. The NCAA and EA Sports greed killed college football video games.

False. I've been following this case quite closely since its inception. EA wanted to negotiate a new contract with the NCAA which set aside money for players, and also allowed them to actually use player likenesses, vs a generic resemblance that only die hards would recognize for the vast majority of players. The NCAA denied the request and the scuttlebutt from a couple years ago is that they feared this would lead to a lawsuit over the TV money and a massive loss of revenue, or a change in the way TV is done.

I don't believe for a minute that EA Sports was going to willingly offer money to the players for their likeness prior to the lawsuit being filed. Furthermore I highly doubt past players were included. Billions of dollars have been made by the NCAA and EA Sports using these players likenesses. It was greed. no doubt in my mind.

Well here you go:

Electronic Arts has settled with the plaintiffs of the Keller suit for $40 million in damages, paying money it owed college athletes for illegally using their likenesses in its college football and basketball video games. However, O'Bannon lawsuit plaintiffs claim in a recent court filing that they will present at trial evidence that EA wanted to pay the players, even though the NCAA wouldn't allow it, due to its amateurism rules.

The (plaintiffs) will present documentary evidence and testimony from Joel Linzner of EA at trial that while EA abided by the prohibition on paying college athletes for the use of their (likeness) in NCAA-lisenced videogames, it nonetheless wanted to obtain the rights for more precise likenesses and the names of every college athlete on each roster, for which EA was willing to pay more to the NCAA and the college athletes themselves.

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/6/4/5779102/ea-sports-ncaa-lawsuit-pay-players

Fair enough. EA wasn't required to use the likenesses though. They chose to do it regardless of not paying the players.

Depends how you chose to define likeness. For the video work I do, if we can't recognize your face, a model release isn't needed. In Sam's case, the QB was white, had the same number, and was within an inch of his height. The model's face bore no resemblance, and the digital version was actually good.

Then you had a guy like Quentin Castille whose "character" was a white guy....

 

[RunMickeyRun02]

What happened to "Once a Husker, always a Husker"?

He'll always be a Husker to me.

 

[Blackshirt39]

Electronic Arts has settled with the plaintiffs of the Keller suit for $40 million in damages, paying money it owed college athletes for illegally using their likenesses in its college football and basketball video games. However, O'Bannon lawsuit plaintiffs claim in a recent court filing that they will present at trial evidence that EA wanted to pay the players, even though the NCAA wouldn't allow it, due to its amateurism rules.

The (plaintiffs) will present documentary evidence and testimony from Joel Linzner of EA at trial that while EA abided by the prohibition on paying college athletes for the use of their (likeness) in NCAA-lisenced videogames, it nonetheless wanted to obtain the rights for more precise likenesses and the names of every college athlete on each roster, for which EA was willing to pay more to the NCAA and the college athletes themselves.

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/6/4/5779102/ea-sports-ncaa-lawsuit-pay-players

This was all said after they killed the game series and EA has absolutely no credibility here. It's a PR spin to make themselves look good in the consumer's eye. It all could have been avoided with a randomly generated roster and they knew that. EA is to blame for the game being killed off. They used player likenesses without permission (Likeness != name). All there is to it.

And before people defend EA, let's take a look at they've done to these companies: Maxis, Mythic, Origin, Westwood, Dreamworks Interactive, Phenomic, Black Box Games, Pandemic, Playfish, and NuFX. EA is not a company that gets to claim moral high ground on anything.

Also let's remember what they did with the NCAA football series:

- Inaccurate gameplay

- Jersey microtransactions

- Pulled features out of previous gen games to introduce as new features in next gen platforms. Essentially never really updating the game.

- Terrible patching service.

- Yearly release schedule led to incomplete/glitchy games.

- Horrible physics engine.

 

[Saunders]

Electronic Arts has settled with the plaintiffs of the Keller suit for $40 million in damages, paying money it owed college athletes for illegally using their likenesses in its college football and basketball video games. However, O'Bannon lawsuit plaintiffs claim in a recent court filing that they will present at trial evidence that EA wanted to pay the players, even though the NCAA wouldn't allow it, due to its amateurism rules.

The (plaintiffs) will present documentary evidence and testimony from Joel Linzner of EA at trial that while EA abided by the prohibition on paying college athletes for the use of their (likeness) in NCAA-lisenced videogames, it nonetheless wanted to obtain the rights for more precise likenesses and the names of every college athlete on each roster, for which EA was willing to pay more to the NCAA and the college athletes themselves.

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/6/4/5779102/ea-sports-ncaa-lawsuit-pay-players

This was all said after they killed the game series and EA has absolutely no credibility here. It's a PR spin to make themselves look good in the consumer's eye. It all could have been avoided with a randomly generated roster and they knew that. EA is to blame for the game being killed off. They used player likenesses without permission (Likeness != name). All there is to it.

And before people defend EA, let's take a look at they've done to these companies: Maxis, Mythic, Origin, Westwood, Dreamworks Interactive, Phenomic, Black Box Games, Pandemic, Playfish, and NuFX. EA is not a company that gets to claim moral high ground on anything.

Also let's remember what they did with the NCAA football series:

- Inaccurate gameplay

- Jersey microtransactions

- Pulled features out of previous gen games to introduce as new features in next gen platforms. Essentially never really updating the game.

- Terrible patching service.

- Yearly release schedule led to incomplete/glitchy games.

- Horrible physics engine.

Did you even read the article? It was the plaintiffs (Keller and his attorneys) that brought this information to court, not the defendants (EA & NCAA).... Nobody had ever heard this before they brought it out.

 

[Husker_luver]

Loved the game but maybe EA should have just made rosters without actual players. Although they were getting bad at making improvements to the game anyways.

The conferences pulled their licences. So no actual venue, or color scheme could have been used. It would not be worth the dev cost at that point.

I mean they should have done it to begin with back when they created the game.

 

[Blackshirt39]

Electronic Arts has settled with the plaintiffs of the Keller suit for $40 million in damages, paying money it owed college athletes for illegally using their likenesses in its college football and basketball video games. However, O'Bannon lawsuit plaintiffs claim in a recent court filing that they will present at trial evidence that EA wanted to pay the players, even though the NCAA wouldn't allow it, due to its amateurism rules.

The (plaintiffs) will present documentary evidence and testimony from Joel Linzner of EA at trial that while EA abided by the prohibition on paying college athletes for the use of their (likeness) in NCAA-lisenced videogames, it nonetheless wanted to obtain the rights for more precise likenesses and the names of every college athlete on each roster, for which EA was willing to pay more to the NCAA and the college athletes themselves.

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/6/4/5779102/ea-sports-ncaa-lawsuit-pay-players

This was all said after they killed the game series and EA has absolutely no credibility here. It's a PR spin to make themselves look good in the consumer's eye. It all could have been avoided with a randomly generated roster and they knew that. EA is to blame for the game being killed off. They used player likenesses without permission (Likeness != name). All there is to it.

And before people defend EA, let's take a look at they've done to these companies: Maxis, Mythic, Origin, Westwood, Dreamworks Interactive, Phenomic, Black Box Games, Pandemic, Playfish, and NuFX. EA is not a company that gets to claim moral high ground on anything.

Also let's remember what they did with the NCAA football series:

- Inaccurate gameplay

- Jersey microtransactions

- Pulled features out of previous gen games to introduce as new features in next gen platforms. Essentially never really updating the game.

- Terrible patching service.

- Yearly release schedule led to incomplete/glitchy games.

- Horrible physics engine.

Did you even read the article? It was the plaintiffs (Keller and his attorneys) that brought this information to court, not the defendants (EA & NCAA).... Nobody had ever heard this before they brought it out.

You need to know how EA works dude. The testimony from one man after they got caught was probably a lie. EA has no interest in sharing revenue with anyone.

 

[Saunders]

Electronic Arts has settled with the plaintiffs of the Keller suit for $40 million in damages, paying money it owed college athletes for illegally using their likenesses in its college football and basketball video games. However, O'Bannon lawsuit plaintiffs claim in a recent court filing that they will present at trial evidence that EA wanted to pay the players, even though the NCAA wouldn't allow it, due to its amateurism rules.

The (plaintiffs) will present documentary evidence and testimony from Joel Linzner of EA at trial that while EA abided by the prohibition on paying college athletes for the use of their (likeness) in NCAA-lisenced videogames, it nonetheless wanted to obtain the rights for more precise likenesses and the names of every college athlete on each roster, for which EA was willing to pay more to the NCAA and the college athletes themselves.

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/6/4/5779102/ea-sports-ncaa-lawsuit-pay-players

This was all said after they killed the game series and EA has absolutely no credibility here. It's a PR spin to make themselves look good in the consumer's eye. It all could have been avoided with a randomly generated roster and they knew that. EA is to blame for the game being killed off. They used player likenesses without permission (Likeness != name). All there is to it.

And before people defend EA, let's take a look at they've done to these companies: Maxis, Mythic, Origin, Westwood, Dreamworks Interactive, Phenomic, Black Box Games, Pandemic, Playfish, and NuFX. EA is not a company that gets to claim moral high ground on anything.

Also let's remember what they did with the NCAA football series:

- Inaccurate gameplay

- Jersey microtransactions

- Pulled features out of previous gen games to introduce as new features in next gen platforms. Essentially never really updating the game.

- Terrible patching service.

- Yearly release schedule led to incomplete/glitchy games.

- Horrible physics engine.

Did you even read the article? It was the plaintiffs (Keller and his attorneys) that brought this information to court, not the defendants (EA & NCAA).... Nobody had ever heard this before they brought it out.

You need to know how EA works dude. The testimony from one man after they got caught was probably a lie. EA has no interest in sharing revenue with anyone.

I know exactly how EA works. I've been playing their games since Wing Commander. They did what the NCAA allowed them too, and there's no doubt in my mind that they tried to extend the license. According to the guys on Operation sports and Gaming Tailgate, they had tried this as far back as 2009/2010. It would boost sales, and would be phenomenal for marketing.

 

[Husker from Kansas]

So why can't they continue to make NCAA football games and just not use players likeness. instead they could just use randomly generated players and then go from there