Quote:
Originally Posted by bowener
It isn't a monopoly. Mecca is correct. No, I am not a lawyer, nor do I claim to be. This just simply isn't a monopoly. EA bought the rights to use NFL names/images. 2K can go out and make a football game that looks similar to EA's madden if they wish (just not too similar), they just don't have permission to use any trademarked images/names the NFL owns.
Hell, 2K can probably make a game that is called "Pro Football 2013", which has 32 teams in 31 cities (2 in NYC), each active roster would have 53 men, etc... as long as they don't have a team in Arizona called the "Arizona Cardinals". They can have a team in KC as long as it is something like, "the KC Cherokees" or something. I'm not sure if they could use the same NFL color schemes for each team tho.
I'm surprised somebody like 2K hasn't made this game where the owners of the game are allowed to customize everything, including editing images/rosters/player names, stadium names, etc. I know they wouldn't make much money on it being a yearly release since you could just edit the previous one to play like a new game.
Sega and 2K can make another pro football simulator if they wish, they just can't use anything trademarked by the NFL.
Do you think Warner Bros. has a monopoly over Batman films? They own the exclusive rights to produce Batman films. I'm sure FOX would love to be able to make a Batman film, but unfortunately they do not have the exclusive rights to do so... much like Sega/2K.
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Get back to me when a company makes such a game and it actually attracts buyers. EA owns the football genre and everyone knows it. No company is going to make an unofficial sim because they can't compete with the real thing. EA would still control the market and it would still be a monopoly because they have exclusive rights to the product.
Why did EA just settle a lawsuit complaining about their exclusive rights if there wasn't a monopoly? Hell... they are paying back customers who bought the game after 2005 because of this. They also just accepted a ban from exclusive rights to NCAA after 2014 for 5 years. All of this to keep their exclusive rights with the NFL because thats where the money is.