Debate surrounding how college athletes should be compensated for their skills is never ending. EA Sports, at least for now, is no longer part of those issues. On May 4, 2011, Judge Claudia Wilken removed EA Sports from a lawsuit that also included the NCAA and the Collegiate Licensing Company.

The lawsuit combined the cases of former college quarterback Sam Keller and college basketball player Ed O’ Bannon. In her dismissal of EA from the case, Wilken said the lawsuit alleges a conspiracy to use player likenesses and deny compensation through NCAA rules. Wilken said the complaint doesn’t actually allege that EA Sports participated in the conspiracy.

NFL legends Jim Brown and Herb Adderley believe EA Sports is using their images and career statistics – and those of thousands of other athletes – without fair compensation. On Monday (September 28, 2009) they asked U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken to let them join former Nebraska and Arizona State University quarterback Sam Keller in a suit against EA.

Keller and the NFL Hall of Famers say EA is making millions from the images of college and pro athletes it uses in their games without compensating those players.

EA uses retired players in its Madden NFL games but doesn’t call them by name. It uses their famous jersey numbers, racial backgrounds and the ratings it would assume to those players. College athletes are portrayed the same way. EA and the NCAA argue the video games are protected under the First Amendment as realistic expressions of the games they depict.