Football game

I don't know how the Primera Liga handles things, but in the US, players are represented by their own union, which is a seperate organization from the league.

If you were to do things by the book, and if the Primera Liga is set up like sports leagues in America, you'd need permission from the sport's Players Union to use players' names and likenesses. In addition, you'd need permission from the league itself to use team names and logos. That's two sets of royalties!

In reality, if you're not going to sell more than, say, 500 copies (for example, if you're making the game for fun), then chances are, the league might not care.

But if you're planning on making a decent profit on the game, you may want to contact the league and see what they have to say.

Standard disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, and I'm certainly not an expert! I'm just a hobbyist who keeps his ear to the ground. Information from qualified sources that contradicts me is probably correct. :)

I hope they don't expect me to believe that ... :evil:

I had to write about this ... I am soooooo angry

In your opinion, is this how it works? Could it be true that they "run out of licenses"? or are they just a bunch of money loving ********?

Again, I'm not an expert... but it sounds like they're blowing you off. :(

Keep in mind, you're dealing with a huge organization that's used to giving licenses to large, espablished companies like EA Sports. They might still be willing to grant you a license in the end, but perhaps they want to see something concrete... at least a business plan, if not a full-fledged prototype on the way to a secure publishing deal.

The bottom line (and again, this is just based on what I've seen in the industry, not an expert opinion) is that they want to be sure they're putting their license - and therefore their product - on something that they won't be embarrassed to be associated with. I'm not saying your product is bad... but they don't know whether it's good or bad, and they're probably not going to take you seriously until you show them serious plans. Not serious in terms of "I spent 2 years working on this game," but serious in terms of "I've invested $10,000 in this game, and with your license, I can break even in one year instead of two."

If licenses were easy to get, then an 8-year old can get one for his homework project. :) You're not an 8-year old, but you're not EA Sports either. So will probably have to convince them that this is a product they want to be associated with.

Now, from what I see in the US, there are small companies putting out sports computer games that as far as I know, do not have official licenses, like Out of the Park Baseball (which is actually by a German designer, go figure) and Diamond Mind Baseball. I don't know if Major League Baseball or the MLBPA know about them; if they do, I don't know if they would take them to court. Of course, the Primera Liga is a completely different league, perhaps with a different attitude; I'm just looking for a precedent.

So you might be able to get away without a license... but I can't say whether or not you will for sure.

Sorry I can't be more helpful.