Manchester United has sued Football Manager

Manchester United has sued the production company SEGA for an alleged copyright infringement in the Football Manager game. More specifically, the English club accuses SEGA Publishing and Sports Interactive of having used a simplified version of its logo - replacing it with a white and red one instead of the official club emblem - and of having used its name without a license. In addition, as United attorney Simon Malynicz says, "consumers expect to see the club's emblem next to the official name and this inability to do so equates to illegal use."

Manchester United is also now trying to obtain court authorization to extend the license, so that the team's players can also use the same treatment in order to get paid even more copyrights, which represent a source of income. very significant for the Red Devils since - theirs - is one of the most valuable brands in the world.

SEGA's response arrived soon, stating that ''this type of treatment had been reserved both by Football Manager and by his predecessor Championship Manager since 1992 without any club complaining'', confirming his thesis saying that using a similar name and not the real one ''it is a legitimate reference to the football team that still remains in a football context'', which is why the publisher should not be required to pay a royalty.

To avoid running into similar situations, other football games such as PES avoid using, in addition to the logo, even the name of the team whose rights are not held, replacing them with names with geographical references and even crippling the names of the players. An important point on which the publisher's lawyers have beaten is that this behavior ''would prevent legitimate competition in the field of video games'' and that ultimately would put "limitations on the right to freedom of expression".

The legal dispute is still ongoing and the chances remain, for one side as well as for the other, of coming out winners; the result of this lawsuit could have a significant impact on the next editions of Football Manager and other games which, due to lack of budget or exclusivity on the rights of some teams, find themselves fighting with similar dynamics every year.