EA has paid a lot of money to
football
leagues and
athletic associations for exclusive rights to their teams
and players in recent years. Nonetheless, I bet they never figured that not getting permission to use a certain warrior
mascot in one of their games would get them into trouble. The University of Hawaii's Vili the Warrior (pictured here)
has filed suit against EA for at least $75,000 in damages for the unauthorized use of his name and image in NCAA
Football 06. Viliami Fehoko, who plays Vili under contract from the university, says that EA took advantage of him
because they neither received permission to use the character he created nor compensated him for doing so in any
way.
Well, EA haters, chalk up one more lawsuit on the boards, and be sure to cheer on your favorite mascot in court. $75,000 is a pittance to pay from EA's coffers, but it'll be great if this not-so-little guy can stand up to the biggest publisher out there.
[via Next Generation]
