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[CaptainABAB]

I'm just thinking, but would it be possible for a publisher to release a Football game where the users can edit the team names, logos and player names - and a mechanism to "share" these customizations with other online users? With the hidden hope that an independent online community would develop to work together to create a customization based on the NFL teams and players?

Of course, the publisher would not be allowed to participate but maybe they can make it easy for users by creating PC tools to customize this data and some way to download updates from external sites within the game? And then hope some of the users get together to create this on their own?

You would lose custom stadiums and the announcers would have to refer to everyone by number. On the other hand, face models don't matter much in NFL as they do in MLB and NBA.

 

[open_mouth_]

this was my idea I think it would be perfectly legal.

However, EA might take Take 2 to court if those updated rosters are allowed to be played online... it'll be interesting.

 

[UbiSoftologist]

this was my idea I think it would be perfectly legal.

However, EA might take Take 2 to court if those updated rosters are allowed to be played online... it'll be interesting.

It would be like Marvel vs NCsoft again.

 

[CaptainABAB]

Well, you can have an online area where players are allowed to use custom teams where the names & logos are changed but not any of the player attributes (strength, speed). Of course, the original players would have to be based on their real counterparts w.o using their facial likeness.

In terms of the legality, I don't know. Napster got in trouble because they found proof that the founders intent was to circumvent IP restrictions. So who knows in this case? If Marvel loses their case, it would strengthen the argument to consider this course.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

It would be like Marvel vs NCsoft again.

I think the question there is more of how responsible should a company be with what its users do on a company's official servers. As long as it was able to be done with independent sites as CaptainABAB said, that might be different. Noone's stopping Nintendo for the tons of copyrighted things being shared as Animal Crossing designs...

Of course, to be totally independent would also mean "not known about" by most of the end users, so I don't think it would have any big effect than sating the real nerds.