A federal appeals court is allowing a group of former college athletes to sue Electronic Arts over allegedly using their likenesses in video games without their permission. This is one of two legal actions this year against the company by former college players. EA has claimed First Amendment rights, but the appeals courts have disagreed. The issue also involves the NCAA and calls into question policies regarding profits generated from college sports and players.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco allowed the lawsuit by a group of student athletes, who have accused Electronic Arts of using their likenesses in its NCAA football and basketball video games.

“EA’s videogames are coveted for their attention to detail,” reports The Wall Street Journal. “‘NCAA Football’ represents college players with look-alike avatars with the same jersey number, height, weight, build, skin tone, hair color and home state.”

In the 2005 edition of “NCAA Football,” a virtual starting quarterback for Arizona State possessed many of the physical traits and play style as former Nebraska and Arizona State quarterback Sam Keller. Lawyers for EA claim that the depiction of players in their games is an expression protected by the First Amendment.

To earn First Amendment protection under California law, EA had to demonstrate that their games added creative elements that changed avatars into something more than “mere celebrity likeness or imitation,” Judge Jay Bybee wrote for the majority opinion. The company’s use of Keller’s likeness “does not qualify for First Amendment protection as a matter of law, because it literally recreates Keller in the very setting in which he has achieved renown,” according to Bybee.

This was the second ruling this year in which a federal appeals court determined that EA cannot use First Amendment protection against lawsuits. In May, the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that former Rutgers University quarterback, Ryan Hart, could sue EA for using his likeness in the 2004, 2005, and 2006 editions of “NCAA Football.”

“The lawsuits are part of a broader legal campaign that, if successful, could force the National Collegiate Athletic Association to tweak its longstanding rule that college athletes can’t profit from their celebrity,” notes WSJ. “Electronic Arts pays the Collegiate Licensing Co., the NCAA’s licensing arm, to use school and team names, uniforms and even fight songs. But the company doesn’t compensate college players.”

The NCAA is also facing antitrust lawsuits by college athletes over the use of their names and likenesses, but the association has denied any wrongdoing. In July, it announced that its contract with EA will not be renewed due to the “current business climate and costs of litigation.”