Hey Mario, could you explain something about player naming rights?

[Simo]

Mario,

This isnt directly related to RL2 as I havent played it yet (xbox) but whilst playing Ricky Pontings Cricket i found that all real players and player faces are used for the world cup but if I play a generic world tour match or exhibition match, only simliar but fake names and faces show up.

When you sign names and faces why on earth would you be not allowed to use them in exhibition games? It doesnt make sense to me - either the player thinks its cool to be in the game or he doesnt want to be.

Why would this happen and how do the rights to using player names work?

Thanks.

 

[Paullyboy]

I know with Ricky Ponting Cricket they had an issue with the ICC, not the individual players. The ICC has some sort of power over marketability of all national contracted players I believe, and hence they only allowed player likeness to be used in the World Cup and ICC Champions Trophy - the only two ICC sanctioned events in the game.

I think this particular setup is unique to cricket though.

 

[sunny]

Player rights for sports game are generally handled by an the relevant union. For instance, EA Sports has an agreement with the NFL Players' Association, and that's how the NFL Players names get into Madden. This can be seen too in one edition of Madden where LaVar Arrington (Redskins LB) was not a members of the players' union and hence his name came up in that particular edition of the game as OLB#56 or something.

 

[Simo]

Ok thanks for that, I couldnt understand what was going on and I think the ICC should pull the carrot out of there ass - Its a computer game FFS!!! Just let us use our favourite players names you dumbass!

 

[sunny]

Does Mario even come here anymore or is he too outraged at the meany-weany thingys I said about his game? :lol:

 

[ParraDude_Jay]

Does Mario even come here anymore or is he too outraged at the meany-weany thingys I said about his game? :lol:

Mario doesn't like fair criticism of his pathetic game, that's all. Oh and he doesn't like not having the power to delete your posts and ban you on this forum just for criticising the game.

 

[bulldog]

I might have to join over there to get an answer on the controller button config question. I've asked it a few times here but get no response.

 

[sunny]

Mario doesn't like fair criticism of his pathetic game, that's all. Oh and he doesn't like not having the power to delete your posts and ban you on this forum just for criticising the game.

He said he wasn't listening to people like me anyway

http://forums.leagueunlimited.com/showthread.php?t=127683&page=6&pp=15

:lol: It's like he'd never heard of the practice of burning a game before. Mind you, the place was infested with sidhe suckups at this stage, so he wasn't on his own. Gotta love old shadow grinder, slurping up the man with a spoon "NO MARIO DON'T TAKE FEEDBACK FROM THAT GUY!" :lol:

:lol: Mind you, I did have a few posts deleted back in December in this forum, and lo and behold, all the deleted posts had critical comments about the game in 'em.

 

[sunny]

Do join up there bulldog- you might not get info, but some of the threads over there are a great laugh (in the 'laughing at' rather than the 'laughing with' sense). Especially check out the thread about not being able to play the game on a modchipped ps2...I nearly died of laughter at one post...

 

[doovepop]

Mario doesn't like fair criticism of his pathetic game, that's all. Oh and he doesn't like not having the power to delete your posts and ban you on this forum just for criticising the game.

yeah that's wht happened to me when i said rl2 was crap, what did they do banned me.:roll:

 

[Mario]

This isnt directly related to RL2 as I havent played it yet (xbox) but whilst playing Ricky Pontings Cricket i found that all real players and player faces are used for the world cup but if I play a generic world tour match or exhibition match, only simliar but fake names and faces show up.

When you sign names and faces why on earth would you be not allowed to use them in exhibition games? It doesnt make sense to me - either the player thinks its cool to be in the game or he doesnt want to be.

Why would this happen and how do the rights to using player names work?

It depends on the licenses they have.

Normally any given sports league will have the rights to use or onsell the names of any players/coaches in the league, and sometimes the likenesses.

When a game company licenses these rights through a sports league they can usually only use them in the context of the league. So you can only use the name and likeness in the context of the World Cup and not a generic made up league for example.

So, limitations of the licenses they have is probably what is behind the issue.

 

[Simo]

Thanks for responding, sounds a bit childish to me though the way you can use a license.
Unless they were going to do something bad like use there name and likeness in a brawl or porno scene or something I reckon cut the crap and just let them be in the the 'total' game.

All it does is annoy the people who buy the game. I doubt Glen Mcgrath would give a toss if I could use his real name in an exhibition match with my mate. This Glen Mcrith stuff is so childish from the licence people in my opinion.

Thanks again for the response.

 

[Paullyboy]

Yeah I would have been as angry as you about it Simo, but one day I sat down for an hour or so and fixed up all the player names. Id forgotten about it till you raised the issue again.

 

[Mario]

Thanks for responding, sounds a bit childish to me though the way you can use a license.

I guess it might seem that way, but you have to respect the rights of the players really.

Their primary worth is in their earning potential as athletes, but many get secondary income from leveraging their name and reputation through endorsements, books, etc (in some cases they earn more through this than their base salaries for actually playing the sport in the first place). After they retire, for many players their name and likeness becomes more significant as they might sturggle to earn the same money (unless they move into coaching or something).

Arguably if they aren't being compensated for their name and likeness appropriately, then that may negatively impact their earning potential through endorsements etc. Some may consider it dilutes the value of the name, others may argue it helps build awareness and adds value by making the player more famous.

At the end of the day, I can see why the lawyers and game developers are cautious because it only takes one disgruntled player to get a game pulled from shelves.

 

[Simo]

I understand that lawyers and game developers have to be careful. I just think His name is already in the game, just in certain modes. If you can tell me with a stright face that using Mcgraths real name (or any player) in world cup and ICC trphy mode but not in exhibition mode has made his name more marketable I will give you a dollar (thats right 1 whole dollar!).

If anything it helps him. You will only play against the computer for so long before it becomes a game you pull out to battle your mates with. This is usually an exhibition game where you just pick your sides and have a crack, not play a whole tournament.
I just dont see how it hurts him not having his name in that particular mode.

Paulyboy,

I havent even looked into renaming them, is it possible on the xbox or only PC?