In what is a groundbreaking settlement, it appears that college athletes will be paid for the use of their names and likenesses while playing NCAA athletics, legally, for the first time. EA Sports and those bringing the class-action suit against them, commonly known as the “Ed O’Bannon Lawsuit” have agreed on a settlement that will see the video game maker pay $40 million for the use of college athletes names and likenesses in their popular College Football, and College Basketball games between 2003 and 2013.
EA Sports has cancelled the games for the 2014 fall season, (which would have been dubbed the ’15 edition under EA’s labelling system) largely as a result of the lawsuit.
The settlement only includes EA Sports and Collegiate Licensing Company and does not include the NCAA itself.
The lawsuit was set to go to trial next week, and is likely to still go to trial if the applicants continue to pursue their claims against the NCAA even with the settlement with EA.
One of the lead attorney’s for the players hailed the settlement as a major victory, saying, “We’re incredibly pleased with the results of this settlement and the opportunity to right a huge wrong enacted by the NCAA and EA against these players and their rights of publicity,” said Steve Berman. “We’ve fought against intense legal hurdles since filing this case in 2009 and to see this case come to fruition is a certain victory.”
However due to the massive size of the number of potential claimaints in the suit (it is estimated it could be between 140,000 and 200,000 players), each player will receive between $48.00 and $951.00 for each year they were used in a game. The differing figures will be based on whether or not just the player’s name was used on a roster, or an actual picture of the player was included in the game.
U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken still must approve the proposed settlement, before it will be official.
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