'League of Legends' developer loses lawsuit for using soccer player's likeness

League of Legends developer Riot Games just learned an important (and potentially expensive) lesson: You can't use someone's likeness without their permission.

Former professional soccer player Edgar Davids won a lawsuit against Riot Games alleging that a character skin in League of Legends used his likeness. A Dutch judge agreed with Davids's allegations and now Riot is going to have to compensate Davids for all the money they made from people purchasing the lookalike skin, Dutch publication Het Parool reported.

The skin in question is the Striker Lucian skin, which was introduced in 2014 to coincide with the World Cup that was happening that year. It puts the character Lucian in a soccer uniform, changes his hair into dreadlocks that are tied back, and gives him sports goggles.

Although Riot claimed in court that the Striker Lucian skin wasn't inspired by Davids, the connection is pretty clear:

Edgar Davids on the left with his signature glasses, and the Striker Lucian skin artwork on the left. Credit: Kieran Mcmanus/REX/Shutterstock, Riot Game

That similarity alone may not have been enough for Davids to secure his victory, but a Riot employee tweeted in 2014 that the Striker Lucian skin was, in fact, inspired by Davids. The tweet has since been deleted but PC Gamer grabbed it before it was taken down.

According to Het Parool, the judge on the case said Davids had a right to protect his likeness given his "silent popularity."

Riot Games did not immediately respond to a request for comment.