The suit alleges that some of the songs used as backing for "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004," "MVP Baseball 2004," and "Madden NFL 2004" embodied "copyrighted musical compositions that EMI owns, co-owns, administers or otherwise controls".
According to the Reuters report, EA had been seeking licences for certain songs in the course of last year but published the titles before these were granted. A further request for licences in February was rebuffed by EMI, which then withdrew all outstanding offers and launched infringement proceedings.
EMI is claiming damages and a share in the profit on the sale of the games – which EMI estimates at "tens of millions of dollars."
According to gamesindustry.biz, the dispute is not about a full track. An EA spokesperson said that EMI's problem is not with its use of licensed tracks from the EMI label, but rather with the use of a sample from one of its tracks in another track.