This one should be fascinating to watch:
Former Cleveland Browns player Jim Brown is suing Electronics Arts and Sony for using his image in EA's Madden NFL series without his authorization ... [arguing] that video games had not yet been invented when he was playing football in the NFL, and he therefore never had the chance to make the decision to sign away the rights to his image to be used in video games. (Davis LLP Video Game Law Blog)
EA evidently has an agreement in place with the NFL which presumably purports to grant EA the right to use the name, image and likeness of retired players. Information on how Canadian legislatures and courts protect the personality rights of individuals (both celebrity and non-celebrity) can be found here (note: the information at the preceding link is slightly outdated) and here.
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