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Is illegal to use the real player and team names in a game? When I say game could be and desktop, mobile or fantasy game.
If is illegal, is ok to change a little bit names? Instead of using Messi could I use Messsi (or something similar)?
All gambling and statistics soccer websites have permissions to use those names?
Thanks!
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No, not generally. Not without permission.
Gambling and stats sites are a different case. There's a difference between using someone's name in a factual article about that person and using their name and likeness in a FIFA-like game.
Minor spelling variations are not enough, otherwise we'd all be playing Lorrd of teh Ringz games.
Celebrities have the rights of publicity in their own likeness which means that you're not allowed to make a profit off of something with their name or face without their permission. You could make a game that uses characters that are clearly meant to represent famous athletes (as long as the difference is enough to protected under the fair use policy and it's not simply a caricature).
I would strongly suggest that if you make a game, you should use all of your own original content because it's much better to make a less popular game than to be sued by your favorite soccer players.
