EA to settle NFL lawsuit? [Updated]

UPDATE: This post had initially conjectured that the lawsuit Electronic Arts Inc. had set aside $27 million for a potential settlement was one involving former National Football League players who sued the company for allegedly using their likenesses in its Madden NFL video games without their permission. Among the plaintiffs of that lawsuit are Vince Ferragamo, former quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams (pictured above). That lawsuit is not part of the settlement, the Times has learned.

Electronic Arts Inc. on Monday disclosed that it had set aside $27 million for a "potential settlement of an ongoing" lawsuit. 

EA declined to identify the suit, stating that it had no final settlement to announce.

The most likely case involves a class-action lawsuit filed in 2008 alleging that EA had stifled its competitors when it signed licensing deals with the NFL and the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. for the exclusive rights to use the likenesses of the groups' football players.

The case filed in federal court by Geoffrey Pecover and Jeffrey Lawrence, two consumers who purchased EA's Madden NFL games, accused EA of freezing out other game companies from making a viable football game when it won the exclusive right to use NFL and NCAA players in its games. They argued that EA violated antitrust regulatons by raising the price of Madden games by 72% in 2005, the year after it signed the exclusive licenses. The case was granted class-action status in December 2010.

The Redwood City, Calif., game publisher denied the allegations in a statement filed in the U.S. District Court of Northern California, saying it did nothing to violate antitrust laws by pursuing exclusive licenses with the football organizations.

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Photo: Vince Ferragamo, No. 15, former quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams, gets ready to throw during the 1980 Super Bowl game. Credit: Associated Press and Los Angeles Times.

Judge denies EA plea to dismiss NFL players' lawsuit

A federal judge Friday denied a motion from Electronic Arts Inc. to dismiss a lawsuit filed by former National Football League players alleging that the video game company misappropriated their likenesses in its Madden NFL titles.

The ruling, by Judge Richard Seeborg of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, means that the case will proceed with its quest to obtain class-action status in representing more than 6,000 former NFL players. 

The named plaintiffs include Tony Davis, former running back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Vince Ferragamo, former quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams (pictured above); and Billy Joe DuPree, former tight end for the Dallas Cowboys.

Davis and others allege that EA, based in Redwood City, Calif., used their likenesses in Madden games without compensating them. EA in the past has argued that it has the right to do so under the 1st Amendment.

An EA spokesman said the company "respectfully disagrees" with the ruling and is "confident we will prevail." 

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Photo:  Vince Ferragamo, No. 15, former quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams, gets ready to throw during the 1980 Super Bowl game. Credit: Associated Press and Los Angeles Times

Feds blitz websites streaming live sports before Super Bowl

Days before the Super Bowl, federal authorities blitzed more than a dozen websites illegally streaming live sporting events.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other agencies announced Thursday that they had seized 16 websites and brought criminal charges against a Michigan man who operated nine of them.

Yonjo Quiroa, 28, of Comstock Park, Mich., was arrested Wednesday and charged with criminal copyright infringement. Authorities said he operated websites that streamed pirated telecasts of live sports, including some pay-per-view events. Those included games from the NFL, NBA and NHL as well as World Wrestling Entertainment. Quiroa received $13,000 in profit from the illegal sites, authorities said.

"This enforcement action ... sends a strong message to website operators who mistakenly believe it's worth the risk to take copyrighted programming and portray it as their own,'' ICE Director John Morton said in a statement.

U.S. Atty. Preet Bharara, Southern District of New York, added: "These websites and their operators deprive sports leagues and networks of legitimate revenue, forcing spectators and viewers to bear the cost of this piracy down the line."

The arrest was part of a larger crackdown, coming days before the Super Bowl, in which federal law enforcement officials seized more than $4.8 million in fake NFL merchandise, including T-shirts, jackets and other souvenirs, from flea markets, stores and vendors nationwide.

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Photo: New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady throws during practice on Wednesday in Indianapolis. The Patriots are scheduled to face the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday. Credit: Mark Humphrey / Associated Press

FCC to review NFL's TV blackout rules

A coalition of angry sports fans has succeeded in getting the Federal Communications Commission to weigh in on the National Football League's so-called blackout rules.

The blackout rules prohibit the showing of a football game on television in the home team's city if the game is not sold out. In other words, if a San Diego Chargers game does not pack the stadium, the game will not be available on television in San Diego.

When the rules took effect some four decades ago, they applied to local broadcasters. However, as more customers got their television through pay-TV services, the FCC passed a rule that requiring cable and satellite operators to comply as well. That means that if the local TV station can't carry a game, the local cable or satellite operator can't carry it either. 

The Sports Fan Coalition, which is leading the charge at the FCC, is looking to gut the cable portion of the blackout rules, which is the only part the regulatory agency has any control over. In its petition against the rule, the coalition argued that the rising cost of going to a football game, coupled with the bad economy, makes getting to the stadium a challenge for average Americans.

FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell is on board with the idea.

“I am delighted that the Media Bureau is requesting comment on a petition seeking elimination of the commission’s rules that prohibit multichannel video programming distributors from carrying a sporting event in a community if it is blacked out by the local broadcast station," he said.

The NFL is no fan of getting rid of the blackout rules. A spokesman noted that it's the only sports league that broadcasts all its regular-season and playoff games on free over-the-air television. (Although cable channels ESPN and NFL Network carry games, if the Chargers and the Bills are playing, the game would be available in the teams' hometowns of San Diego and Buffalo.) Only 6% of the games this season were blacked out, the NFL said.

Although local over-the-air stations wouldn't mind if the blackout rule goes away, they are not likely to cross the NFL and will almost certainly join the league in fighting any push by the government to allow cable and satellite operators to do what they cannot do.

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Photo: Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. Credit: Chris Schneider / Associated Press