| (Department of Physical Education,Zhongnan University of Ecnomics and Law,Wuhan 430073,China) Abstract: As a concept originated from American law, athlete’s image right is an intangible property right that is different from personal rights such as privacy right and the right for name, and is specified as an independent intellectual property by some of the states in the United States. Mainly including protections such as general provision and its analogical applicability specified in civil law in respect of personal rights, intellectual property, and the law of anti unlawful competition, the protection pertaining to athlete’s image right is specified irregularly in countries all over the world, and few countries specify image right independently. Athlete’s image interest is an important property interest of an athlete, which is provided with different performances for different events and athletes. There is a conflict of interest between the athlete and the broker, club, sponsors and the like in the development of athlete’s image right, in which the athlete is usually at the weak side, and explicit legal provisions are required for regulation. Similar to traditional practice carried out in countries with a continental legal system, the provisions of the existing laws in China do not specify image right independently, which should have been done in accordance with international trend.
Key words: athlete; image right; legal protection; perfection of law; intellectual property |
