Full story at IndyStar.com:
The NFL should face a trial over claims it misused the voice of John Facenda, the deceased narrator of NFL Films, in an infomercial about the making of a video game, a lawyer for Facenda’s family said.
Facenda’s voice was used in an hour-long show on the NFL Network promoting the Madden 2006 video game without his family’s permission.
Jurors should decide whether the league used the distinctive voice to convey the impression that Facenda endorsed the game, Paul Lauricella, the family’s attorney, told a judge. The NFL contends the case should be thrown out.
This trial begs the question, Who really owns a man’s voice?
According to the article, the family of the man whose name you don’t know but whose voice rings loud and clear, is suing the NFL for $150k in damages. While I don’t understand all the facts of the trial, it sounds as if the family is suing because the voice was used, in their opinion, to endorse Madden 2006. I didn’t see the program they refer to, so I can’t form an opinion whether or not they are right, but why does the family care?
Do they have a vendetta with video games? with Madden video games? with John Madden?
Anything that brings new fans to the sport — which Madden video games clearly does, outselling any other video game series by a mile — is certainly a positive thing. And if Facenda, the voice of NFL Films, endorses that which is good, where’s the problem?
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