Lawsuit Claims EA Used UNLV Fight Song in NCAA Games w/o Permission
Lawsuit Claims EA Used UNLV Fight Song in NCAA Games w/o Permission
October 14, 2008
A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Nevada late last month alleges that sports game publisher Electronic Arts used the UNLV fight song in various NCAA-licensed games without obtaining permission of the composer.
Gerald Willis of Washoe County says in the suit that he is the composer and copyright holder of both the lyrics and music of Win With the Rebels. Willis claims that his tune can be heard in the following games:
- NCAA Basketball 09
- NCAA Football 09
- NCAA March Madness 08
- NCAA Football 08
- NCAA March Madness 07
- NCAA Football 07
- MVP NCAA Baseball 07
- NCAA March Madness 06
- NCAA Football 06
- MVP NCAA Baseball 06
From the complaint:
...an important element of Defendants' software is its realistic feel that is created, at least in part, by its recorded and reproduced sounds including but not limited to college fight song.
Willis seeks $150,000 per alleged copyright violation. We have a request in to EA for comment.
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Posted 07/03/09 at 11:00pm
Leet Gamer Jargon: Where's the recent JT bullcrap? Which comments section has he vomited on?
Leet Gamer Jargon: Where's the recent JT bullcrap? Which comments section has he vomited on?
Posted 07/03/09 at 09:17pm
BearDogg-X: I wonder what the Metropolitian Moron of Miami said in response to my comment saying that he got a dose of his medicine on the SGC09 Debate thread?
BearDogg-X: I wonder what the Metropolitian Moron of Miami said in response to my comment saying that he got a dose of his medicine on the SGC09 Debate thread?
Posted 07/03/09 at 06:51pm
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: He gets offended with a bunch of flowers.
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: He gets offended with a bunch of flowers.
Posted 07/03/09 at 06:49pm
GoodRobotUs: LOL He takes offence at the fact he might have *chosen* to be crazy?
GoodRobotUs: LOL He takes offence at the fact he might have *chosen* to be crazy?
Posted 07/03/09 at 06:47pm
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: He warned me to get a lawyer after I called him "crazy by his own choice"... that´s libel for him
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: He warned me to get a lawyer after I called him "crazy by his own choice"... that´s libel for him
Posted 07/03/09 at 06:45pm
HilaryDuffGta: "libel" what did he threaten now?
HilaryDuffGta: "libel" what did he threaten now?
Posted 07/03/09 at 06:44pm
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: Was fun to be threatened for "libel" again.
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: Was fun to be threatened for "libel" again.
Posted 07/03/09 at 06:26pm
HilaryDuffGta: hey so what did i miss??? the usual spam of "crap"
HilaryDuffGta: hey so what did i miss??? the usual spam of "crap"
Posted 07/03/09 at 06:15pm
FlakAttack: Jack ruined his chance to have civil debates with us here. Glad you banned him (again).
FlakAttack: Jack ruined his chance to have civil debates with us here. Glad you banned him (again).
Posted 07/03/09 at 04:04pm
Krono: Unexpected is probably the best word to describe it. Particularly as no decent reason is given.
Krono: Unexpected is probably the best word to describe it. Particularly as no decent reason is given.
Posted 07/03/09 at 03:59pm
GoodRobotUs: Just heard about that myself... kinda unexpected
GoodRobotUs: Just heard about that myself... kinda unexpected
Posted 07/03/09 at 03:58pm
Krono: Huh, apparently Sarah Palin is resigning.
Krono: Huh, apparently Sarah Palin is resigning.
Posted 07/03/09 at 03:34pm
GoodRobotUs: Sounds like he's been mainlining the Angel Dust again
GoodRobotUs: Sounds like he's been mainlining the Angel Dust again
Posted 07/03/09 at 01:50pm
ezbiker555: I'm back. Just in time too, my Jack Thompson sense were going wild
ezbiker555: I'm back. Just in time too, my Jack Thompson sense were going wild
Posted 07/03/09 at 01:47pm
DarkSaber: You mean "playing with himself"? :-P
DarkSaber: You mean "playing with himself"? :-P
Posted 07/03/09 at 01:16pm
Matthew: Oh, Jack's back? I guess he got bored of playing single-player.
Matthew: Oh, Jack's back? I guess he got bored of playing single-player.
Posted 07/03/09 at 01:05pm
Andrew Eisen: I'm leaving most of his comments up but he'll be banned again shortly.
Andrew Eisen: I'm leaving most of his comments up but he'll be banned again shortly.
Posted 07/03/09 at 01:03pm
PHX Corp: So the jackhole finally got through to attack us again
PHX Corp: So the jackhole finally got through to attack us again
Posted 07/03/09 at 01:03pm
Andrew Eisen: I deleted all of JT's off topic stuff.
Andrew Eisen: I deleted all of JT's off topic stuff.
Posted 07/03/09 at 01:00pm
PHX Corp: He also has more BS Law suits agains the florida bar
PHX Corp: He also has more BS Law suits agains the florida bar
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Comments
Here they come! One whiff of EAs blood in the water was all it took....
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
It depends, when he says "per infringement" does he mean per game sold, or does he just want 150K for every title it should have been liscenced for.
I'd imagine it's per IP that used it and not per unit. Otherwise there goes EA as a company huh?
Heh. If only.
Really though, it took them this long?
Hell, I hope it is Broken's former, because EA would prolly lose half of their income for the year, haha.
Well, under the new law, should this be calculated per violation/unit? Which would pretty much destroy EA entirely?
Sounds like Gerald Willis needs better Digital Rights Management to control the unauthorized distribution of his work. Hmm, wonder who could help him out with that...?
Irony is teh awesome. :)
If only this guy could put the serious beat down on EA for IPR violations with maximum statutory damages per infringement. It would be such perfect justice!
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"The most difficult pain a man can suffer is to have knowledge of much and power over little" - Herodotus
If the man has clear legal claim to the property, then he will likely prevail.
But school fight songs ... don't they typically either belong to the school itself, or to an implied public domain? It would be reasonable to assume that by licensing the right to use the school's IP in the games, that EA may have assumed that right extended to things like school fight songs? I would chalk this up to legal laziness on both the part of EA and the school.
--Verbinator
Wait so a company who whines and shoved down our throats one of the most horrible draconic anti piracy devices ever is now a pirate?
Oh the irony i hope he wont and got paid by EA. I can imagine all the players who dont get paid raging on steroids at this when they are in the game but not officially.