Hall Of Famer Running Back Jim Brown Sues Sony & EA

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. and Electronic Arts Inc. were sued by Hall-of-Fame running back Jim Brown, who accused the companies of using an electronic football-game character based on him without his permission. Brown, who left the National Football League to become an actor and starred in the movies “The Dirty Dozen” and “Any Given Sunday,” seeks a court order stopping the Sony Corp. unit and Electronic Arts from using his likeness in video games.

The character, part of the “Real Old School Teams and Players” series, is a muscular, African-American running back wearing the number 32 jersey who is featured in the game’s “All Brown’s Team,” Brown said in a complaint filed yesterday in state court in New York. Brown, who wore number 32 for the Cleveland Browns, said in the complaint that he “never signed away any rights that would allow his likeness to be used.” Professional athletes now typically sign agreements allowing the use of their names and likenesses, according to the complaint. Brown said in the complaint that, when he played football, “The NFL had league wide policy that players shall have no lawyers or agents when negotiating compensation. Video games were not invented yet and no union to obtain rights from existed.”

Patrick Seybold, a spokesman for Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., which makes PlayStation, didn’t return a voice-mail message seeking comment. A representative of Redwood City, California-based Electronic Arts, the world’s second-largest video-game maker, couldn’t be reached for comment. Brown said Sony and Electronic Arts, maker of the “Madden” football games, have “unjustly enriched and have received and continue to hold ill-gotten gains,” diluting his trademark rights for his likeness and reducing its value. In the lawsuit, Brown seeks unspecified damages for trademark infringement, unauthorized use of his likeness, trademark dilution and unfair business practices and competition. He also seeks a preliminary and permanent court order to stop the use of his likeness.

Brown led the NFL in rushing in eight of nine seasons with Cleveland from 1957 to 1965. His lawyer, Keith McKenna, didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment. The case is James Brown v. Sony USA Inc., 110412/2008, New York State Supreme Court (Manhattan).

Story courtesy of Bloomberg.