California jury has found that videogame publisher Electronic Arts (EA) breached a 1986 software development contract it had with developer Robin Antonick.
Specifically, it found that the expression in the source code of plays and formations from EA’s John Madden Football videogames for Sega developed between 1990 and 1996 was substantially similar to the expression in the source code of Antonick’s original Madden videogame for the Apple II computer. The jury also found that Antonick proved the same videogames were virtually identical to his when considered as a whole. During an earlier phase of trial, the jury found that Antonick’s lawsuit was timely because prior to November 21, 2005, Antonick “did not discover and did not know of facts that would have caused a reasonable person to suspect that Electronic Arts had breached its contract […] or made fraudulent statements.”
In 1983, EA was a new videogame company. It was developing sports videogames, such as Earl Weaver Baseball and One on One Basketball but had not started developing a football videogame. Unlike one-on-one basketball or baseball, simulating the behavior of 22 football players was a challenge on early personal computers. Due to limitations on memory and processing power, most football games developed in the 1980’s did not show full teams.
In late 1983, Antonick contacted EA about developing a football videogame and showed EA a prototype. The company was impressed and signed a contract with him to develop a football videogame for the Apple II and other personal computers. Mike Kawahara, a former assistant producer at EA who worked closely with Antonick, testified at trial that Antonick “was given the task of achieving all these very, very lofty objectives, particularly the 11-on-11realistic play,” and “[a]s far as the calculations for the player behaviors were concerned, it was considered impossible because of the limitations of the Apple II.” However, “Robin found a way to overcome that in a manner that not only had I not ever heard of, I still don’t understand it.” With Kawahara’s help, Antonick developed a game with realistic plays and player ratings.
In 1986, John Madden agreed to endorse EA’s football videogame. Antonick and EA entered into a new contract to develop John Madden Football. Over the next two years, Antonick and a number of collaborators worked to integrate John Madden’s philosophy into the game. Antonick worked from Madden’s Oakland Raider’s playbook and in-depth discussions with Madden. The final product was released and well received in 1988. Versions for other computers soon followed.
In August 1990, while Antonick was working on John Madden Football II for the IBM computer and for the Nintendo, EA told him that it was hiring another developer, Park Place Productions, to make a version of John Madden Football for the Sega Genesis and would not use his work.
Antonick had no reason to question EA’s representation. It was not until 2009 that Antonick discovered that EA had not taken steps to ensure that the Sega Genesis game was developed independently from his work. In fact, EA employees who had worked with Antonick also worked with the Park Place team. The jury’s verdict in phase one makes it clear that the mere passage of time does not support a statute of limitations defense without evidence that the plaintiff knew or should have known of his claims.
The evidence, including expert examination of EA and Antonick’s source code revealed that EA used Mr. Antonick’s work to design and implement, among other features, the plays, directional controls and field width in John Madden Football videogames developed for the Sega Genesis between 1990 and 1996. The trial court ruled that field width and plays and formations as expressed in Antonick’s source code were protected by copyright. The jury found that EA copied Antonick’s plays and formations as expressed in Antonick’s source code. Its verdict sets an important precedent on the level of copyright protection afforded to sports simulation videogames. The jury’s verdict entitles Antonick to three percent royalties on Madden videogames developed for the Sega Genesis between 1990 and 1996.
The lead attorneys on the case for the Paynter Law Firm are Stuart Paynter, Sara Willingham, and Jennifer Murray, and the firm is co-counsel in the action with the law firm of Hagens, Berman Sobol & Shapiro LLP, whose partner Rob Carey led the trial team.
