Video Game Maker EA Loses Lawsuit to Former NCAA Athletes

Electronic Arts, the Redwood City-based maker of some of the best-selling sports video games ever, suffered a loss in court this week to former college athletes who say EA used their likenesses without permission, according to reports.

EA said that using likenesses of ex-college athletes in its games was free expression under the Constitution's First Amendment. Judges at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed, according to Reuters.

EA will appeal the ruling again, the news agency reported.

Former athletes like ex-Arizona State University quarterback Samuel Keller, were "literally recreat[ed]" by EA "in the setting in which he has achieved renown," the court ruled.

A player on the 2005 edition of NCAA Football had all the same characteristics as Keller had in real life, the news agency reported.

Another former college QB, Rutgers University's Ryan Hart, has a similar challenge in the courts.