EA hit with copyright lawsuit

Electronic Arts is being sued for copyright violation for the illegal use of University of Nevada Las Vegas's (UNLV) official team anthem in ten of its games.

Composer Gerald Willis, of Reno, Nevada, wants the publisher to cough up $1,500,000 (£915,000) for their use of the anthem, which he registered for copyright in 1990.

‘Win With The Rebels’ can be heard in ten EA titles - NCAA Football (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009), NCAA Basketball 2009, NCAA March Madness (2006, 2007, 2008) and NCAA Baseball 2006 and 2007 - and Willis is seeking $150,000 (£91,000) for each violation.

"The US copyright law allows for enforcement of copyright, and we trust the judge to determine what would be appropriate in a situation like this," said Willis’s lawyer, Ellen Winograd. "I think the UNLV band sounds great when they play it, and that's what it was written for. It was not written for commercial use."

As the UNLV only holds a limited licence to the song, it has not been named in the lawsuit.