Browns Fan's Case Against EA Dismissed, Will Probably Be Settled
It looks like Big Dawg is getting his.
John "Big Dawg" Thompson, who is famous for wearing an intimidating bulldog mask in Cleveland's rowdy Dawg Pound section and suing Electronic Arts for using his likeness without permission, is likely settling his case, according to Cleveland.com. Last week the site reported telltale signs: the case is being dismissed, terms were not disclosed and EA's publicists "couldn't be reached."
Parker said the video game manufacturer never asked Thompson's permission to use the character. As part of the suit, Thompson asked for a minimum of $25,000 and that Electronic Arts no longer use his image.
The Consumerist crystal ball says Big Dawg will be in Madden NFL 11, and the Dawg will be getting paid for the appearances from here on out.
Browns superfan John 'Big Dawg' Thompson's case against game maker likely to be resolved [Cleveland.com, via Joystiq]
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Comments:
The article you are citing to came out the day BEFORE your original post about this.
He should stay inside and never appear in public from this point on (with his mask on that is).
He is lucky they are settling for anything. Suing over your likeness or parody of a likeness is difficult to collect on just ask Vanna White.
Here is a simple solution. EA should pay someone to wear a generic mask very similar to his and attend several games with the paid person sitting next to this guy.
From then on, tell this dude to *BLEEP* off and never pay him a dime.
I'm not being pro-EA here. EA sucks! Their DRM infested games suck. I just hate copyright/trademark owners who think they can sue everyone for no real reason. This guy is suing a company for using his 'likeness'? WTF?
@AgitatedDot: EA pays the NFL and the players union for their likenesses, why is this guys any different?
Way to go 'Dog man.' But it's funny, what if this gives the idea to any other football team mascot or consumer in the stands? How will that turn out if another 'random' fan sees a 'random' replica of their self on the game and be like 'Uh oh, that's me? I am suing EA for something, blah blah blah."
@CracktheCrown: Because they're not showing his face? Shouldn't they be paying the designer/manufacturer of the mask?
I thought getting a case dismissed and settling were mutually exclusive?
While it may seem silly, it's like I've said before, he does have his name trademarked.
@twitter.com/tblandjr: That is exactly why they wont take it to court. Settling out of court for one guy is far cheaper than litigating, especially i they think he has a good case. if he won, it would set a precedence.
Now, if more people try to sue, they will probably go after them becasue settling 10 cases is likely more expensive than just crushing the first 2.
@tawnie is waving: Yet if you create something yourself, and include in it a likeness or paraody of likeness of something that some large corporate conglomerate created, or even something that simply "sounds similar", they don't hesitate to sue you. And they usually win.
@Betsumei: We've already been through this on the original thread...the horse is dead, deceased, no longer among the living, gone to that discussion thread in the sky.
@xtc46 - thinksmarter on twitter: I suspect they only pulled the fans that are recognized by the NFL HoF and thought that was sufficient. We've already hashed around the "what about the disclaimer on the ticket", "what about the maker of the mask" and all, but it looks like a market price is being established for the use of well-known fan likenesses in the video games.
@coren: No. If you settle a case that's already been assigned to a judge (and perhaps even earlier in the process), the judge has to validate with the parties that the settlement agreement is genuine (not forged or coerced) and then dismiss the suit.
Cases can be dismissed on other grounds, even if there is no settlement, but dismissal is a co-requisite of a settlement.
I bet we see new clauses added to NFL tickets that by attending the event you agree to your likeness being used in any way the NFL or any company it does business with sees fit.
While I found this whole thing kinda silly, it's nice to see (at the very least) that the little guy is still able to go up against the big guy and win in some cases.