In re NCAA Student-Athlete Name and Likeness Licensing Litigation (Keller v. Electronic Arts Inc.)

Electronic Arts (EA) created a college football video game with player avatars replicating real players' physical attributes — jersey number, skin tone, hair color, height, and weight — without using their names. Samuel Keller (Keller), a college football player whose attributes EA used for an avatar, filed a putative class action alleging EA violated his right of publicity. EA argued its use was protected by the First Amendment under the transformative-use defense, and the district court rejected that defense as a matter of law; EA appealed.