Pecover v. Electronic Arts Inc.

633 F. Supp. 2d 976 (2009)

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Pecover v. Electronic Arts Inc.

United States District Court for the Northern District of California
633 F. Supp. 2d 976 (2009)

  • Written by Tammy Boggs, JD

Facts

Geoffrey Pecover and Jeffrey Lawrence (together, the gamers) (plaintiffs) purchased copies of an interactive video-game-software product called Madden NFL from retailers of the game. The characters in Madden NFL were based on actual, real-life teams and players from the National Football League (NFL). Madden NFL was produced by Electronic Arts, Inc. (EA) (defendant). The gamers, as class representatives, sued EA for antitrust violations. The gamers alleged in their complaint that the relevant product market was interactive football software that used the names and logos of real-life football teams and players (NFL-based video games). According to the gamers, EA entered a series of agreements with the NFL, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and the Arena Football League (AFL) to obtain exclusive licensing rights to publish an NFL-based video game, which immediately “killed off” competing games and prevented competitors like Take-Two from reentering the market. The gamers alleged that consumers were not interested in purchasing a video game involving fictitious football players and that EA dramatically raised the price of Madden NFL after obtaining its exclusive rights. The complaint claimed violations of § 2 of the Sherman Act and California’s Cartwright Act, among other laws. EA filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Walker, C.J.)

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