Former Bengals running back Tony Davis has filed a class action against EA on behalf of 6,000 retired NFL professionals about the use of the players likenesses in Madden NFL 09, reports IGN.
The plaintiffs claim that EA never compensated for thousands of retired players whose likeness were used to populate the lists for the teams history of the game. The lawsuit alleges that EA "knowingly and intentionally" included statistics, positions, and height and weight of the retired players, but removed the names of players and even their numbers to avoid paying anyone.
"The only significant detail that EA changes from the real-life retired NFL players is their jersey number," the suit reads. "Despite EA's 'scrambling' of the retired NFL players' numbers, the games are designed so that consumers of the Madden NFL video game franchise will have no difficulty identifying who the 'historic' players are."Furthermore, the suit insists that "EA was fully aware that its use of the retired players’ likenesses was without [authorization] and that a license fee was needed." The claim seeks actual, punitive, and statutory damages.
History is not on the side of plaintiffs. A similar lawsuit against EA in 2008 by Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown was recently dismissed, though Brown is appealing the decision.
The latest game of the franchise, Madden NFL 11 hits stores next week.
Watch the Madden NFL 2011 Debut Trailer [HD]
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