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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Comments

Re: Lawsuit Claims EA Used UNLV Fight Song in NCAA Games w/o

Submitted by mikese on Mon, 04/13/2009 - 09:32.

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.

Re: Lawsuit Claims EA Used UNLV Fight Song in NCAA Games w/o

Submitted by pauljay on Thu, 04/01/2010 - 22:31.

I think they should pay him out, of he can prove it is legit!
EA got tons of cash

Paul

Re: Lawsuit Claims EA Used UNLV Fight Song in NCAA Games w/o

Submitted by sirdarkat on Wed, 10/15/2008 - 08:06.

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?

Re: Lawsuit Claims EA Used UNLV Fight Song in NCAA Games w/o

Submitted by Verbinator on Tue, 10/14/2008 - 17:41.

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

Re: Lawsuit Claims EA Used UNLV Fight Song in NCAA Games w/o

Submitted by Spartan on Tue, 10/14/2008 - 17:17.

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

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The most difficult pain a man can suffer is to have knowledge of much and power over little" - Herodotus

Re: Lawsuit Claims EA Used UNLV Fight Song in NCAA Games w/o

Submitted by 1AgainstTheWorld on Tue, 10/14/2008 - 16:55.

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. :)

Re: Lawsuit Claims EA Used UNLV Fight Song in NCAA Games w/o

Submitted by GoodRobotUs on Tue, 10/14/2008 - 15:45.

Well, under the new law, should this be calculated per violation/unit? Which would pretty much destroy EA entirely?

Re: Lawsuit Claims EA Used UNLV Fight Song in NCAA Games w/o

Submitted by Brokenscope on Tue, 10/14/2008 - 15:36.

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.

Re: Lawsuit Claims EA Used UNLV Fight Song in NCAA Games w/o

Submitted by Eville1 on Tue, 10/14/2008 - 15:41.

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?

Re: Lawsuit Claims EA Used UNLV Fight Song in NCAA Games w/o

Submitted by DeepThorn on Wed, 10/15/2008 - 08:02.

Hell, I hope it is Broken's former, because EA would prolly lose half of their income for the year, haha.

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How to set Xbox 360 Parental Controls

Re: Lawsuit Claims EA Used UNLV Fight Song in NCAA Games w/o

Submitted by DarkSaber on Tue, 10/14/2008 - 15:34.

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.

-------------------------------------------------- I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.

Shout box

prh99: Also there is no story in rational and respectful discussion (where you can find it).10/19/2014 - 10:44am

prh99: Well they are probably doing it on Twitter and probably the GG hashtag so any voice reason gets drowned out by idiocy. Also it's far easier to broad brush a group.10/19/2014 - 10:41am

Wonderkarp: dont fool yourself, Technogeek. Remember Mass Effect 3? How about the ferver against Phil Fish?10/19/2014 - 10:18am

MechaTama31: None of which is the fault or responsibility of the people who are not trolling, harassing, threatening, doxxing, etc. So why is their opinion hostage to the people who are?10/19/2014 - 10:06am

Technogeek: If the developer were male there wouldn't have been a "conversation" in the first place.10/19/2014 - 2:27am

Monte: trolls are just at their absolute worst when it comes to women and feminist. You could bet good money that if the developer were male the trolls would be silent and the conversation would actually focus on the journalism.10/18/2014 - 9:18pm

Monte: Papa: Not the first time we've had a journalism scandals before, but the harassment never got close to this level; the difference with this scandal is that feminists are involved. Without the feminist angle, their would be A LOT less harrassment10/18/2014 - 9:15pm

Papa Midnight: Monte: That's honestly rather short-sighted. As has been proven with other persons who have been targeted, if it wasn't Quinn, it would be someone else.10/18/2014 - 6:26pm

Avalongod: I think that's part of what gives an esoteric news story like this real life...it taps into a larger narrative about misogyny in society outside of games.10/18/2014 - 3:29pm

Avalongod: @Monte, well the trolls made death threats that came to police (and media attention). I think this is tapping into a larger issue outside of games about how women are treated in society (like all the "real rape" stuff during the last election)10/18/2014 - 3:28pm

Wonderkarp: Zippy : Havent tried the PS4 controller. might later.10/18/2014 - 2:37pm

Monte: Seirously, If Quinn was not involved and GG was instead about something like the Mordor Marketing contracts, the trolling would have never grown so vile and disgusting. There have been plenty of movements in the past that never sufferred from behavior..10/18/2014 - 1:57pm

Monte: We have seen scandel's before but the trolling has never been as vile as what we see with GG. Trolls usually have such a tiny voice you can barely notice them, but its like moths to a flame whenever femistist are involved.10/18/2014 - 1:53pm

ZippyDSMlee: Wonderkarp: You might be able to if you had a PS4 controller.10/18/2014 - 1:00pm

MaskedPixelante: http://store.steampowered.com/app/327940/ Night Dive starts charging for freeware.10/18/2014 - 12:21pm

Matthew Wilson: the sad thing is there are trolls on both sides of this. people need to stop acting like their side is so pure.10/18/2014 - 12:19pm

MechaTama31: So, only speak out on a scandal that hasn't attracted trolls? I wouldn't hold my breath...10/18/2014 - 10:49am

Monte: I feel like GG just needs to die. The movement is FAR to tainted by hatred and BS for it to be useful for any conversation. Let GG die, and then rally behind the NEXT gaming journalism scandal, and start the conversation fresh.10/18/2014 - 10:33am

quiknkold: and we dont have a Dovakin to call a cease fire10/17/2014 - 7:37pm

quiknkold: The whole thing is Futile. Both sides are so buried deep in their trenchs that there isnt a conversation. Its just Finger Pointing, Name Calling, Doxxing, Threats. there needs to be a serious conversation, and GG isnt it.10/17/2014 - 7:37pm

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