Ex-pro soccer player sues Riot Games for stealing his likeness to make Lucian in League of Legends

[Madmick]

Riot Games is sued because League Of Legends' Striker Lucian Skin looks like a real footballer

An ex-professional footballer (that’s soccer, not the egg-kind) has convinced a Dutch court that Riot Games based a League of Legends character upon his likeness without his consent.

According to Het Parool (via PC Gamer), Edgar Davids filed a complaint stating LoL’s Striker Lucian skin looked too much like him owing to similarities of the character's "skin color, hair, muscular posture, aggressive playstyle and well-known sports goggles" (as translated by Google). The judge agreed with him, confirming that Davids had a right to protect his likeness.

Unfortunately for Riot, an ex-QA of the studio stated on Twitter "for all you wondering, Striker Lucian was inspired by soccer pro Edgar Davids," which - let’s face it - pretty much dispels any doubt.

The tweet - originally made in June 2014 - has since been deleted, and the original poster has locked down their account, but it was nevertheless enough to convince the court.

The interim judgement confirmed Davids contacted Riot in 2015, requesting that they to stop using his likeness. Despite their defense that it was unlikely fans would mistake the fictional character for the real-life Davids, Riot were unsuccessful, and have now been instructed to disclose to the court how much the Striker Lucian skin has earned the studio. From there, auditors will assess how much compensation the footballer is owed.

Invasion is the newest game mode coming to League of Legends, and it’s possibly the most ambitious one yet. Launching alongside the newest set of Star Guardian skins, Invasion comes with a new map, new announcer, and a whole load of scary, scary beasties to take on.

Mind you, this isn't about the character, but about a skin. This character existed for nearly a decade before this. Personally, I'm sort of amazed Blizzard didn't sue the shit out of Riot Games, or vice versa. I think either/or has a better case than desperate Davids:

Lucian (Soccer Skin) from League of Legends

Lucio from Overwatch

Meanwhile, in what I'm sure is an entirely unrelated story:
How (and Why) Athletes Go Broke

By the time they have been retired for two years, 78% of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress because of joblessness or divorce. Within five years of retirement, an estimated 60% of former NBA players are broke.

 

[Turtlejuice]

He's got a pineapple
on his head

He's got a pineapple
on his head

Reminds me of that time that chick tried to sue RockStar over the girl in the loading scenes holding the phone. Whatever happened with that? I assume it went no-where.

 

[KaNesDeath]

I'm not a lawyer and have no idea how this will go.

Riot lost, they admitted when the skin was released that it was designed around his likeness via their official twitter account.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

I don't know much about LoL. I thought it was like Dota? Why would it have a soccer player running around?

 

[Madmick]

Riot lost, they admitted when the skin was released that it was designed around his likeness via their official twitter account.

Indeed, and so did Davids, who thanked them for the homage, and didn't object to his "likeness" being stolen as it was merely an inspiration for the skin, not the character itself. What changed gratitude?
League Of Legends Developer Ordered To Pay Edgar Davids For Likeness

Anyone who ever watched a match with Edgar Davids knows he’s one of the most recognizable players to ever grace a pitch. With his magnificent dreadlocked mane and iconic goggles, Davids was steam punk before steam punk was cool. He was a pretty damn good footballer too, playing for clubs like Ajax, AC Milan, Juventus, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Tottenham while representing the Netherlands 74 times and making some kickass commercials. Paul Pogba’s got nothing on Davids.

So it’s no surprise when League of Legends introduced a skin for the champion Lucian entitled Striker Lucian in June 2014, people noticed the two’s striking similarities.

For all you wondering, Striker Lucian was inspired by soccer pro Edgar Davids~ pic.twitter.com/Jf6nlYVmKW

— Baconhawk (@missbaconhawk) June 5, 2014

Davids too took notice, having just resigned from his post as player-manager at English League Two side Barnet.

Soon Davids’ lawyers were involved because that commercial money just wasn’t cutting it anymore. On Friday, Davids won the lawsuit. A court ordered LoL developer Riot Games to compensate Davids based on sales of the Striker Lucian skin.

Davids just won’t stop winning. The question is, will he stop there? Overwatch character Lucio (no relation to Lucian) has a soccer skin of his own and, wouldn’t you know it, he looks awfully familiar.

Lucio or Edgar Davids? Photo: @10makamati | Twitter

Who can blame Riot Games and Blizzard for trying to capitalize on one of the coolest footballers to play the game? Where will Davids’ likeness pop up next? Perhaps he’ll be a villain in the next Call of Duty game or the protagonist in Grand Theft Auto VI. My money’s on him making an appearance as a new Pokemon.

It's ridiculous. Now them paying an homage by "inspiration" is a crime of IP theft. The character existed long before Davids, so I can't agree with the basis for the ruling. For his "likeness" to be "stolen" one would have to use his name, his jersey number, shit like that. That's what has gotten smaller VG sports franchises into trouble with corporations like the NBA or the UFC. It's not even like they've given the skin some lame name like Edvar Davidson.

This is more "deep pockets" bullshit leftist litigation. We just can't get this IP porridge right. In the West, it's too hot. In China, it's too cold.

 

[Turtlejuice]

Indeed, and so did Davids, who thanked them for the homage, and didn't object to his "likeness" being stolen as it was merely an inspiration for the skin, not the character itself. What changed gratitude?
League Of Legends Developer Ordered To Pay Edgar Davids For Likeness



It's ridiculous. Now them paying an homage by "inspiration" is a crime of IP theft. The character existed long before Davids, so I can't agree with the basis for the ruling. For his "likeness" to be "stolen" one would have to use his name, his jersey number, shit like that. That's what has gotten smaller VG sports franchises into trouble with corporations like the NBA or the UFC. It's not even like they've given the skin some lame name like Edvar Davidson.

This is more "deep pockets" bullshit leftist litigation. We just can't get this IP porridge right. In the West, it's too hot. In China, it's too cold.

Don't need to use a name to steal someones likeness. That said, if they hadn't admitted it, it likely wouldn't have gone anywhere as it could easily be argued as coincidence.

 

[Madmick]

Don't need to use a name to steal someones likeness.

Obviously. That's the problem. They admitted it was "inspired" by his likeness. That's not the same thing as admitting you "stole" or "branded" someone's likeness.

That's all this was. A lawyer saw that, and got in his ear. Payday. Has nothing to do with wrong or right.


Fuck Edgar Davids.

 

[Turtlejuice]

Obviously. That's the problem. They admitted it was "inspired" by his likeness. That's not the same thing as admitting your "stole" or "branded" someone's likeness.

That's all this was. A lawyer saw that, and got in his ear. Payday. Has nothing to do with wrong or right.


Fuck Edgar Davids.

Indeed, lawyers gonna lawyer. I realised what you were saying after I replied, normally a likeness claim is very hard to prove, generic blonde number 1 looks very similar to generic blonde number 10 in terms of likeness. And without the admission that is pretty much all they'd have had in this case. Without specific identifying features likeness cases are basically dead in the water.

 

[KaNesDeath]

What changed gratitude?

Realization at the amount of money acquired globally. This is completely different than Blizzard adding the Red Shirt Guy to WoW.

 

[Madmick]

Realization at the amount of money acquired globally.

Yep. As you can tell...it goads me.

 

[loyalyolayal]

Lol(no pun intended)at the hypocrisy of riot. Riot, acquired by tencent has sued Moonton-also owned by tencent, for plagiarizing LoL. Chinese companies don't give af. Also, moonton's moba- mobile legends-has a soccer player(Bruno) that obviously looks like Neymar. His other skin had him wearing brazil's jersey so they had to change the character model with Ronaldo. China being China.

Old:

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[Madmick]

Corporations have to protect their IP, or risk setting unfavorable precedent, @loyalyolayal, so to call this hypocrisy (in ignorance of IP law and why they filed those suits) isn't tenable.

 

[loyalyolayal]

I don't know much about LoL. I thought it was like Dota? Why would it have a soccer player running around?

They suck at lore making and just make pop/cultural icon based characters. Here's another one from Mobile Legends.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

They suck at lore making and just make pop/cultural icon based characters. Here's another one from Mobile Legends.

Is that supposed to be a white washed Bruce Lee or something, dressed like Uma Thurman from Kill Bill??

 

[loyalyolayal]

Is that supposed to be a white washed Bruce Lee or something, dressed like Uma Thurman from Kill Bill??

Game of Death.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

Game of Death.

Outfit looks a hell of lot more like The Bride from Kill Bill, right down to the zipper, badges and belt.

 

[loyalyolayal]

Outfit looks a hell of lot more like The Bride from Kill Bill

Obvious homage to Bruce Lee. Or are you dicking me around? Lol!

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

Obvious homage to Bruce Lee. Or are you dicking me around? Lol!

Are you saying the Bride is a homage to Bruce? Because if you're saying she is, then yes, I agree with you.

If you're saying that this video game character is only an homage to Bruce, and not an homage to both Bruce AND the Bride then I don't agree with you. It's clearly Bruce from Game of Death and the Bride -- he's wearing her fucking outfit verbatim.

 

[loyalyolayal]

Are you saying the Bride is a homage to Bruce? Because if you're saying she is, then yes, I agree with you.

If you're saying that this video game character is only an homage to Bruce, and not an homage to both Bruce AND the Bride then I don't agree with you. It's clearly Bruce from Game of Death and the Bride -- he's wearing her fucking outfit verbatim.

Someone's bored.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

Someone's bored.