John Facenda, whose voice would make you run through a brick wall just to fetch him a glass of soothing water (or something stronger), has struck a major victory against NFL Films (or at least his estate has). Fasolamatt passes along this news from Law.com, and we defer any more legal ramblings to resident RandBall law-talkin’ expert Rocket. From Law.com:

The estate of legendary sports announcer John Facenda has scored another major victory in its court battle with NFL Films that centers on whether Facenda’s distinctive voice — known in football circles as the “Voice of God” — was improperly used in a promotional film for a John Madden video game.

In its 60-page opinion in Facenda v. NFL Films Inc., a unanimous three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that NFL Films violated Pennsylvania’s “right of publicity” statute.

Now the only issue left to be decided on that claim is how much Facenda’s estate should be awarded in damages.

The panel rejected NFL Films’ argument that the “standard release” contract Facenda signed was a “complete defense,” noting that while the release gave the NFL the right to use Facenda’s voice in future film projects, it also explicitly prohibited any use that would “constitute an endorsement” of any product.

“Facenda consented to participation in films documenting NFL games, not an advertisement for a football video game,” 3rd Circuit Judge Thomas L. Ambro wrote in an opinion joined by Judges Michael A. Chagares and Robert E. Cowen.

Facenda, according to Wiki, did NOT ever say “frozen tundra of Lambeau Field.” That was something Berman made up. Seriously. But Facenda did say this:

The Autumn wind is a pirate
Blustering in from sea
With a rollicking song he sweeps along
Swaggering boisterously.
His face is weatherbeaten
He wears a hooded sash
With a silver hat about his head
And a bristling black mustache
He growls as he storms the country
A villain big and bold
And the trees all shake and quiver and quake
As he robs them of their gold.
The Autumn wind is a RAIDER
Pillaging just for fun
He’ll knock you ’round and upside down
And laugh when he’s conquered and won.

Makes you want to punch someone just because it’s Wednesday, doesn’t it?

For a little noontime fun, why don’t you come up with some phrases you would like to hear in Facenda’s voice. For us?

“The Vikings went into the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIII needing to produce a miracle. Instead, they would produce two.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 at 11:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.