Third-party megapublisher Electronic Arts was sued for copyright infringement involving the company's NCAA sports games series. The publisher allegedly used an official University of Las Vegas team anthem without composer Gerald Willis's permission. Willis, who works as a high school music teacher, now demands $1.5 million USD from EA.
The plaintiff claims that he heard the anthem he composed for UNLV on 10 EA Sports titles, which includes NCAA Football (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009), NCAA Basketball 2009, NCAA March Madness (2006, 2007, 2008) and NCAA Baseball 2006 and 2007. Breaking the demanded amount down, Willis seeks $150,000 for each violation.
Willis's lawyer, Ellen Winograd, said that the anthem was composed solely for the UNLV band. "It was not written for commercial use," Winograd said.
