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The Daily OrangeVirtual reality: Player likenesses in video games spawn lawsuit against EA Sports, NCAA
By Andrew L. John
Posted: 10/28/09, 2:47 AM EST Section: Sports
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Smith, a starting middle linebacker on the Syracuse football team, may not be mentioned by name within the game, but virtually everything else about his digital counterpart is identical. Everything from his height and weight, his jersey number, the style of facemask he uses and his uniquely identifiable uniform accessories match his real-life, on-the-field identity.
But a pending lawsuit says Smith shouldn't be able to see his digital double, because it violates an NCAA bylaw that states that the likeness or image of a collegiate athlete cannot be used for commercial purposes.
Former Arizona State and Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller is in the early stages of a lawsuit against the NCAA and its video game partner, EA Sports, claiming that the game company illegally conspired to use the likenesses of college athletes for its own commercial monetary gain.
Per NCAA rules, collegiate athletes are prohibited from sharing in the millions of dollars of revenue generated from the EA video games that portray their likeness.
"A lot of people think that college athletes should get paid because of that," Smith said. "And I would love to get paid. But our coach tells us all the time that we get paid to go to school. But on the other hand, I would love to get paid.
"I'm on both sides of the situation because they are making money off of us. If I got paid, I'd love it. But I'm pretty well off right now."
The case is a class-action antitrust suit, which means Keller isn't just representing himself, but also the long list of NCAA football and basketball players who have been featured in EA Sports video games over the years. Though the precise number of such athletes is unknown, there are believed to be thousands, according to court documents related to the case.
That includes Smith and his SU teammates.
Boyce Watkins, a Syracuse University finance professor and an advocate for the rights of college athletes, said that if the players actually knew how much the NCAA was cashing in by using the likeness and image of its athletes, they would almost certainly want a piece of the financial pie.
Watkins argues that the American sports culture views collegiate athletes as amateurs, while they are treated as professionals. Therefore, the NCAA gets a pass when it comes to compensating its athletes financially.
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