Nope. I'm sure there's some clause somewhere that states that being at the game will more than likely result in the reproduction of his image and all rights are voided. I'm sure they sit around dreaming this stuff up in order to prevent lawsuits in the first place.

He needs to quit his howling [sorry, I couldn't resist]. He should be ecstatic his likeness is being used in the game.

He should be suing the Browns for false advertising. They are telling people they are an NFL team.

@JimBoSlobish: Agreed. Once you enter the NFL stadium, your image is fair play for them to do whatever they'd like to with.

I'd be excited more than pissed.

@Japheaux: Not sure what he's barking up a tree about.

I think it says right on the ticket that you may be on camera during the game, your image/likeness may be used, reproduced, blah blah blah...he's going to lose.

@donnie5:

Quite true.

That photo is going to give me nightmares. I was watching a football game of some kind the other week (I don't like football, Mr. Pi does) and these fans had these horrific pig masks on, and I cringed every time they panned to one of these people. Ugggh!

I've never liked furries.

@JimBoSlobish: Agreed as well. Once you go to the game your image can be used.

@pecan 3.14159265: No bones about it.

@donnie5: they are pretty horrible. Maybe there should be a Minor league football team?

@pecan 3.14159265: Ewww.. those things are creepy. I think I've seen a movie or something where they had bank robbers wearing those.

@pecan 3.14159265: I guess he's chasing his own tail.

This man is not represented in the game. His face is completely covered. However, unless he made his mask from scratch, the manufacturer of the mask might have something to say about its incluson in the game.

Psh. Like anyone would be the Browns in Madden.

@Skankingmike: Is the arena league back yet?

@donnie5: I am from Cleveland and I still say ZING!

Sorry, Ill go to a good Browns game and have a hot dog and a beer, but you have to go in KNOWING were gonna lose.

He's from Cleveland. I'm going to assume he loses.

@downwithmonstercable: I'm not sure that has anything to do with a video game company putting his picture on the game, but either way, he's out in a public place so anyone could take his picture, etc. Unless he can show economic hardship (to himself) or economic gain (to EA) from any confusion the use of his picture might cause, I can't imagine he'll win. Unless maybe he created the mask himself and owns some kind of trademark that they've violated?

You would think that guy would be happy to be in such a popular video game. They could have just as easily not included him. He is not a vital part of the game.

How much would his "contribution" be worth to the game? The number seems unmeasurably small.

I hope he wins.

While he *DID* consent for the *NFL* to use his likeness when he purchased the ticket and entered the stadium, I don't think it says anywhere on the ticket that *Electronic Arts* has the right to use his likeness.

I live in Cleveland. News here says that he'll win because it's not *his likeness* that is in question, it's the actual mask that is in question, which is, allegedly, a copywritten design.

Supposedly, it's happened here before with billboards or some other sort of advertising and he supposedly won. I don't know. Rumors and such. I'm not a fan of football or The Browns for that matter.

He'll likely lose, you know...in the same fashion that his team does...at the last minute.

Either that or he's just grubbing for money to pay for his August 2009 DUI.

@pgh9fan1: But isn't there a difference between using his face and using a character that he's created? Plus it seems like appearing in a video game is a different than being in a televised or recorded image. EA had to recreate his likeness. It's not as if a camera panned the crowd and he just happened to be in the shot. I assure you that if someone just "happened" to use an NFL logo in a video game, they'd have a much different opinion of the situation.

Hrmmmm, as a media darling and attention hog, I must side with Thompson. But not in the way you think.

While I agree you may have your picture/image taken and used at a game, this is different. They rendered an image of him, and are using it in a video game for financial gain, even in a small part. I think they should have given him at least credit, as I am guessing someone like him enjoys seeing his name in lights, just like me. If they had his name on the Jersey he was wearing, I'm sure he would print out that frame, and buy 100 copies of the game to hand out to friends.

I mean, if a baseball game used the likeness of Morganna Roberts,
aka, "the Kissing Bandit", who would run onto the field and kiss baseball players, I would expect them to acknowledge the real life person the rendered character is based off of. If John Madden gets credit because a rendered image of him is used, why not Thompson?

He needs to quit worrying about the video game and address the fact that his mask can no longer stretch over his enormous jowls before he drops dead in the bleachers. I know it's not cool to attack someone's appearance, but Good Lord. Try some fruit.

By the way, Consumerist, a bulldog mask with googly cartoon eyes is not "intimidating."

@tomok97:
I have to agree with you on this one. I'd be ticked off if there were an image of something I created in a video game without them paying me anything for it.

@redskull: Yeah, the giant bulging eyes are kind of disturbing. It looks like they're being squeezed out of the dog's face.

@Japheaux:
Well, it is a dawg eat dawg world.

@tomok97: If he didn't want to 'give away' the character he created, he shouldn't have shown up to the game as the character.

@CopyPaste:
Are the ticket prices as outrageous there as they are for "real" NFL teams? I remember when the Cardinals were terrible it wasn't very expensive to get good seats. There is a downside to your home team doing well; higher ticket prices.

Something about this pic screws up my spatial... somethingness and I just see a mostly regular size guy with a tiny dog head.

@Japheaux: Ouch, don't you think that being a little ruff?

@pecan 3.14159265: Whether they are horrofic or not, I will leave that to the viewer, but I suspect that you and Mr. Pi were watching the Washington Redskins game.
"The Hogs" is a reference to the Redskins' famed offensive line of the Joe Gibbs era that was instrumental in the franchise's four trips to the Super Bowl, three of which resulted in NFL championships.
You can read more here: [www.redskins.com]

He should sue them for drafting Brady Quinn.

@nybiker: My typo: s/b horrific.

If Madden got compensated for being in the Madden game, then I don't see why other people in the game shouldn't be compensated as well.

@bornonbord: What you say is true: That makes absolutely no sense. If I show up to the game as Mickey Mouse, does that give EA the rights to put Mickey Mouse in the game?

@matthewgerber: I have to disagree with that point, at least slightly.

If that were the case, wouldn't whichever company made the Captain Kirk (Bill Shatner) mask be able to sue the producers of the original Halloween movies?

No, they created a character, and thus, have the rights to it.

@eirrom: Exactly. Can't the appease him by listing him somewhere deep within the credits? I'd think that would be good enough. What more can he possibly expect?

@bornonbord: What you say is true: So any public appearance of intellectual property is a tacit relinquishment of your rights to said property? That's an interesting take. Am I misunderstanding the article? They used his likeness in a video game, right? He wasn't in NFL video footage. In game footage, I agree, he gave away his likeness by purchasing a ticket. But a video game means they recreated his creation from scratch and then sold it. So can they slap his character on t-shirt and sell it just because he showed up to a game once? Does this mean that the Lakers can put Jack Nicholson in their video games (without paying him) since he always sits courtside?

I happen to have a ticket stub for a University of Wisconsin sporting event in front of me, and it says " Holder grants premission to the University of Wuscinsin (and its designees and agents) th utilize the Holder's image, likeness, actions, and statements in any live or recorded audio, video, or photographic display or other transmission, exhibition, publication, or reproduction made of, or at, the event without further authorization or compensation."

I would imagine that the same disclaimer/release is included on NFL tickets or in the terms of the season ticket package. I'd imagine this guy doesn't have much of a case here.

@tomok97: I agree. I used to work with a guy who made clocks with classic Rock-Ola jukebox pictures on them. As long as he bought the picture - like in a magazine - it was OK. He couldn't REPRODUCE the picture though.

For the game - if they re-created him - maybe he has a case. If they just used regular NFL game footage, then nope.

I doubt he copyrighted the image though. I'd think he'd deserve his name in the credits.

@ganzhimself:
Holder grants premission to the University of Wiscinsin (and its designees and agents) to utilize the Holder's image, likeness, actions, and statements in any live or recorded audio, video, or photographic display or other transmission, exhibition, publication, or reproduction made of, or at, the event without further authorization or compensation."

Proof reading FTW.

@ganzhimself: ding ding ding , we have a winner! .. every ticket to every event in the world that's on tv says something along those lines .. give up 'dawg' ..

@Smashville_can haz star???: The difference there is that you don't own the rights to Mickey Mouse.

@nybiker: Nope, wasn't a Redskins game. Well, it might have been, but it wasn't the Redskins fans who were wearing them. The uniforms were white/silver and it was probably a college team.

@AdvocatesDevil: Good point, maybe the mask maker has a claim though?

@sunnytimes:
I'm sure that since EA is the exclusive NFL license holder for video games that this would be considered a legal use of the guy's likeness, or in this case, his mask's image... They would be considered a designee or agent and they would covered under the "any ... publication or reproduction made of, or at the event."