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Licensing Likenesses For Sports Games
mojotooth writes "According to an article on The Register (via Gamesindustry.biz), German courts have handed down a ruling that the EA Sports game FIFA World Cup 2002 cannot be sold in Germany, because it features the name and likeness of Bundesleague goalkeeper Oliver Kahn without his express permission. The court has not yet handed down damages. This could be troubling to the sports gaming industry - we might be forced back into the dark ages of sports gaming, where team names and jersey numbers could be used, but not the names or likenesses of the players."
we might be forced back into the dark ages of sports gaming, where team names and jersey numbers could be used, but not the names or likenesses of the players
Or push us forward to an enlightened age where you actually ask permission before getting rich off somebody else's reputation.
Sheesh.
You mean we'll go back to the golden age. Where in Bases Loaded the best batters were Paste and Warner. And team names were single letters like P, B and M. The only sports games that are good anymore are NHL 200*. Other than that the best are NBA Jam, Bases Loaded, Baseball, Baseball Simulator, 10 Yard Fight, Tecmo Super Bowl, Blades of Steel, and the best ever Ice Hockey. I'd rather have generic color teams with no branding. Then the companies will concentrate on making the game better and not on getting the better license.
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As the article states, EA made a deal with FIFA as well as the Bundesliga (the German Football league) for the use of names and likenesses of the players on the German football teams.
:)
The precedent that this sets is that the agreement between EA and the Bundesliga is no longer valid -- which means that EA would have to go personally to each player individually to get permission. EA would definitely go after FIFA and the Bundesliga if this is the case, because then it is the Bundesliga's fault for not getting permission for its players for the video game. In germany, at least, the Bundesliga's selling names and likenesses it doesn't have the right to.
How does this get solved? Well, asking for permission would be a start. Make sure the money earned from the license goes to the players. Lots of things can be done to ensure everyone gets along. And if a player simply doesn't want to appear, put them on the injured list the entire season! (in the game, that is!)
If people DON'T play nice, then there might be some words spoken between the leagues, the clubs and the players. I don't know what the politics of the German clubs are like, so I can't predict what conclusion would happen.
(On a side note: It's nice to be able to play a video game and be your sports hero. Every kid wants to be Wayne Gretsky or David Beckham or Michael Jordan! It's not necessary but I think it adds legitimacy and reality to the games.)