Ninth Circuit OKs Football Players' Videogame Publicity Suit

The Ninth Circuit has ruled that the First Amendment rights of a video-game maker don't trump the rights former NFL players have to be compensated for the use of their avatars in the Madden NFL series, the Associated Press' Sudhin Thanawala reports. Courthouse News' Maria Dinzeo reports that the panel ruled that Electronic Arts can't "use incidental use as a defense for its depictions of football players in video games, ... rejecting the company's claims that the athletes' images add little commercial value." The panel also upheld a lower court ruling rejecting Electronic Arts' motion to strike the lawsuit under California's anti-SLAPP law.