Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. and Electronic Arts Inc. were sued by Hall-of-Fame running back Jim Brown, who accused the companies of using an electronic football-game character based on him without his permission. Brown, who left the National Football League to become an actor and starred in the movies ``The Dirty Dozen'' and ``Any Given Sunday,'' seeks a court order stopping the Sony Corp. unit and Electronic Arts from using his likeness in video games. The character, part of the ``Real Old School Teams and Players'' series, is a muscular, African-American running back wearing the number 32 jersey who is featured in the game's ``All Brown's Team,'' Brown said in a complaint filed yesterday in state court in New York. Brown, who wore number 32 for the Cleveland Browns, said in the complaint that he ``never signed away any rights that would allow his likeness to be used.'' Professional athletes now typically sign agreements allowing the use of their names and likenesses, according to the complaint. Brown said in the complaint that, when he played football, ``The NFL had league wide policy that players shall have no lawyers or agents when negotiating compensation. Video games were not invented yet and no union to obtain rights from existed.''http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a3DZgtoyhp7M
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