EA Sports could be in for another serious blow in its quest to rule the sports gaming world. That’s because the United States Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a case brought against it by former NFL players, announcing its decision on Monday.
The players started the suit against Electronic Arts back in 2010, after a near decade of the game using retired players’ images and likenesses in historic teams from 2001-09. It was alleged that EA Sports violated their state-law right to publicity by using their likenesses on those historic teams.
Much like the issue with EA Sports’ NCAA football franchise, those historic teams were full of players who never were identified by their real name. However, the heights, weights and ethnicities of said players were all true to life. So were the performance measures and attributes of players.
With the Supreme Court refusing to hear EA Sports’ appeal, it means the 9th Circuit Court’s decision stands and the case stays in the federal appeal court. The 9th Circuit Court denied EA Sports’ appeal to have the case dismissed back in January, stating:
“EA’s use of the former players’ likenesses is not incidental because it is central to EA’s main commercial purpose — to create a realistic virtual simulation of football games involving current and former NFL teams.”
The Supreme Court’s choice to not hear the case has larger implications than just this case though, as it lost a chance to weigh in on the larger issue of First Amendment rights vs. trademark infringement and publicity issues.
What remains to be seen is where this lawsuit goes from here. Does EA Sports settle like the did in the NCAA Football case or fight it out hoping to get some clarity on what is and isn’t covered under the First Amendment.
[Polygon]
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