Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

Judge rules videogame maker has 1st Amendment right to depict college football players

A federal judge “found that EA’s right to use the likeness of [former Rutgers quarterback Ryan] Hart was protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution and this right ‘outweighs’ Hart’s right to control the use of his name and likeness.” [GamePro]

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4 Comments

  • That is . . . bizarre.

    • By Titus

  • Titus… Not much different from the Guitar Hero ruling.

    • By Rliyen

  • So if I understand this correctly, I can use the judge’s likeness in a pornographic video game since it’s my right.

    • By Ed

  • Ed,

    According to one Rufus T. Firefly (which links back to http://runningwithlawyers.typepad.com/) when commenting in a 2004 post on “Underneath Their Robes” (http://underneaththeirrobes.blogs.com/main/2004/07/_general_commen.html) provides the following insight:

    “I can’t believe you left out Judge Freda Wolfson from the District of New Jersey. In the mid 1990s I was involved in some RTC litigation. At the time, Freda was still a Magistrate (she was elevated to District Court Judge a few years ago) the in-house lawyer for the RTC took the train up from Washington to Trenton just to, as he put it, “meet the hot judge with the great legs.” A terrible omission on your part.”

    Makes one wonder if what is good for the gander is good for the goose?

    • By Bumper