The creators of League of Legends lost the court to ex-footballer Edgar Davids (Edgar Davids) and now have to pay him compensation for using the image of an athlete without permission.
The proceedings revolved around the Striker Lucian game skin, which turns one of the heroes of League of Legends into an athlete resembling Edgar Davids in skin color, hairstyle, protective glasses and other details.
Official Riot Games art featuring Striker Lucian and Edgar Davids
Davids claimed that Riot Games was using his image without permission.
The defense of the developer studio, in turn, insisted that the Striker Lucian model only slightly resembles Edgar Davids and there is no reason to claim that Riot Games exploits the name of a famous athlete.
As a counterargument to this position, the court cited a tweet by former Riot Games community manager Heather Jones, who in 2014 wrote: “To anyone wondering: Striker Lucian was inspired by football player Edgar Davids.”
The court decided to find out how much money Riot Games have earned on the Striker Lucian skin since its appearance in 2014, and reimburse this amount to Edgar Davids.
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