Gamertell

NFL legends Jim Brown and Herb Adderley believe EA Sports is using their images and career statistics - and those of thousands of other athletes - without fair compensation. On Monday (September 28, 2009) they asked U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken to let them join former Nebraska and Arizona State University quarterback Sam Keller in a suit against EA.

Keller and the NFL Hall of Famers say EA is making millions from the images of college and pro athletes it uses in their games without compensating those players.

EA uses retired players in its Madden games but doesn’t call them by name. It uses their famous jersey numbers, racial backgrounds and the ratings it would assume to those players. College athletes are portrayed the same way. EA and the NCAA argue the video games are protected under the First Amendment as realistic expressions of the games they depict.

US District Court Judge Florence Marie Cooper agreed with EA and the NCAA Wednesday (September 23, 2009) writing that, according to the ” target=“external”>Associated Press, the Madden games “are expressive works, akin to an expressive painting that depicts celebrity athletes of past and present in a realistic sporting environment.”

In November 2008, Adderley settled a class-action lawsuit for $26.25 million on behalf of 2,000 NFL retired players in which a jury ruled unanimously that, according to the LA Times., the NFL Players’ Association ignored terms of contracts regarding player marketing where retired players were concerned.

Read [The Associated Press] Also Read [LA Times: Fabulous Forum]