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of a celebrity'S image is committed in Italy (Italy being the place where the relevant advertising has been created, or where the relevant media editor has its registered office) or if damages have OCCUlTed in Italy (Italy being the place -or one of the placeswhere the injured party lives and where the newspaper, web page or TV commercial

_can be read or viewed, respectively).

Sports image rights under Italian law

An overview of principal legal issues involved in the commercial exploitation of the image rights of top athletes, clubs and sports associations.

Luca Ferrari

SYNOPSIS

This article illustrates and defines, albeit not exhaustively, the content and scope of image rights exploitation in the world of sport and under Italian Law.

Firstly, we explain how, under Italian International Private Law, independent of the law applicable to the contract concerning the commercial exploitation of a person's identity, the national law of such person would always apply to the nature and content of his image right.

Thereafter, we analyse the nature of image rights. In Italy, as by and large in all continental Europe, the right on one's image is, by its nature, a right of personality, i.e. a right per se, "against the world" or "erga omnes", In this section, we also summarize the applicable regulation, from statutory rules and remedies provided for the "erga omnes" protection of the rights on one's own image to the specific regulatory framework concerning athletes' and professional footballers' image rights marketing, focusing on the athlete's right to self-marketing and the resulting possible conflict with the advertising of the team or sports organisation to which the athlete belongs.

After this survey of the law, we will concentrate first on the legal and practical problems related to the "commercialization" of such personality rights, particularly in light of Italian jurisprudence's qualification thereof. This will include reference to: schemes and arrangements involving rights ofpersonaUty; forms and limitations of testimonial's consent to the use of his image, and; the legal instruments which accord protection against withdrawal of consent.

1. Application of Italian Law

Italian Law 3 and a number of international conventions 4 recognize the so-called "diritti della personalita" -in English "personality rights" - meaning rights that are inherent and proper to the human being, or, in the words of the Black's Law Dictionary,

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"primal rights pertaining to men l- .. ] enjoyed by human beings purely as such, being grounded in personality" (Black's Law Dictionary, sixth edition). Needless to say, although Mr, Black in his day did not find it fitting to express, the concept applies equally to women. Life, personal freedom, health, name, image, honour, dignity and reputation, education, information, privacy, personal identity, are all wrapped up in the notion of "personality rights". These rights are not just "absolute", imposing an obligation of respect against the world, but, because of their very nature, they are also privileged, inalienable, and non assignable.

Pursuant to art. 24 ofItalian Private International Law (Law 31 May 1995 n. 218 or 218/1995) an individual's personality rights are defined and ruled by his/her national law, As to the right of one's name, the same rule was affirmed by the Munich Convention of 5 September 19805• However, under the second paragraph of art. 24 of Law 218/1995, consequences of the violation of such personality rights are ruled by "the Law applicable to civil liability". The latter is identified pursuant to art. 62 of Law 21811995 as the Law of the country where the tort was committed -where the injury was suffered (latin: lex loci delicti commissh. Alternatively, if the country where the injury was suffered is different from the one where the fact causing such injury took place, at the election of the injured party, the Law of the country where the injurious act was performed can be applied. Therefore, in the case of abusive commercialisation of one's image, the lex loci delicti commissi (the place where the injury was suffered) is presumably the country of domicile of the injured party, but, if the unauthorised publication of his! her name or picture originally took place in another country, the plaintiff may ask the relevant Italian court to apply the Laws of such different country,

In conclusion, Italian Law is applicable, pursuant to Italian Private International Law, if an illegitimate act of exploitation

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In international image licensing contracts, the parties may choose the Law applicable to the agreement and the ensuing relationship. Under Italian Private International Law, in the absence of a choice, the governing law is determined pursuant to the Rome Convention of 19 June 1980 On The Law Applicable To Contractual Obligations (now known as "Rome 1") 6. However, the legal recognition and content of the "image" as well as the nature and content of related rights (name and-identity) are still ruled by the laws of the country of citizenship of the licensor-testimonial,

Therefore, whenever the contract concerns the use of an Italian citizen's name and image, Italian law inevitably applies (at least) to determine the nature and content of licensed rights, i.e. the object of the license including, most important, whether such rights are capable of being licensed or even made the object of any contractual obligation.

2. The Nature And Content Of [mage Rights Under Italian Law

There have been numerous definitions offered for the legal nature of the image right. According to prevailing opinion, the image right is the affirmative version of the right of privacy. From this perspective, the image right is articulated as the right of a person not to have his image seen by

. others; and this situation is violated by the arbitrary view 01' exposure of the image itself,

The content of this right is concretely expressed in the "affirmative" notion that a person may choose to appear according to his/her own needs and requirements.

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3. Applicable Legislation

Under Italian law, the protection reserved for the image is derived from the joint pro- Article 97, paragraph 1, of the Law on visions of Article 10 of the Civil Code and Copyright provides that the consent of the Article 96 of the law on copyright (Law image holder is not required when reproNo. 633/41). - duction is "justified by the fame or by the public office covered by the latter, for justice and police requirements, for scientific, educational or cultural purposes, when the reproduction is connected to facts, happenings and ceremonies of public interest or, in any case, conducted in public", However, the second paragraph of Article 97, limits the scope of the first paragraph, stating that "the likeness cannot be displayed or put on sale, when its display or sale might cause prejudice to the honour, reputation or dignity of the person represented".

Ibis right exists independently as a right inherent in a person, fulfilling one's particular identity, i.e. characteristics and qualities. It can, therefore, be inferred that .it enjoys an autonomous status and legal validity. Above all, such a right is recognised and protected quite apart from the existence of an iniuria: its use by others is prevented -without the owner's consent- as a matter of principle; it is therefore protectable even in the case in which the reproduction and disclosure of the image cause no offence or harm to the person.

Third parties are prohibited from publishing a person's image. One could say that the regulation relative to the image has been drawn up in line with said prohibition and is aimed at ensuring an individual's entitlement to not having his features used by others, except in those cases foreseen by law.

A person's image inevitably is recognised by third parties as one does not enjoy the right of not being observed. Awareness of another's image is a legitimate activity and cannot be forbidden. But it is forbidden for third parties to use the image of another or to exploit those features against that person's interests (not limited to pecuniary) and will. However, as we will explore, under specific circumstances a limited use by third parties is permitted, without the consent and even in the face of opposition of the right holder.

The Civil Code establishes the principle that if an image is displayed or published except when consented by law (the exceptions are listed in Article 97 of Law No. 633/41), or its display causes prejudice to the dignity and the reputation of the person concerned, the judicial authorities may order the abuse to cease and award compensation for damages.

This rule is essential with reference to the instruments available against abuse of the image.

Article 96 of the law on copyright, in tum, completes the discipline by stating that a person's likeness cannot be displayed, reproduced or sold without the latter's consent, apart from the exceptional circumstances listed by the following Article 97.

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Generally, consent of the image holder must be given, even though tacit consent or even presumed (implied by behaviour incompatible with the desire not to grant consent) is sufficient.

With regard to the necessity of granting consent the Corte di Cassazione has established, that the reproduction of the image of a famous person, created for advertising purposes without the latter's consent, constitutes an injury to an individual's exclusive rights over his own likeness 7.

The principle that consent (whether explicit or tacit) must be specific, now appears to be a precept established by the decisions of the courts in the sense that the image cannot be used in a context or for purposes different from those to which the consent itself refers, The reason why consent must necessarily be limited and specific is clearly deduced in a judgement handed down by the Rome Court 8, In that case, the Court declared that a person's subjective situation may change, perhaps rapidly, and the publication of the image, which at one time might have seemed to be consistent and adequate, may then no longer comply with the different requirements and connotations of the individual's personality. Furthermore, the efficacy of the consent must be kept strictly within the limits in which the consent was granted for the dissemination (defined as the objective limit), and exclusively concerning the individual or individuals to whom it was granted (the so-called subjective limit) 9.

With reference to famous people, two conditions must apply in order to permit use of their image by third parties without their consent: besides the person being famous, the reproduction of the individual's linage must be connected with facts of public interest or which have occurred in public. The person's fame must, therefore, be

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combined with an informational purpose, or rather, publicised facts.

It should be stressed, however, that the prevalence of public interest (or rather, curiosity) is not absolute. It must give way at the threshold of undesirable indiscretion concerning any person's more intimate, personal circumstances, even if that person is famous. In other words, the rights of the press and those of privacy must be balanced. This is often not the case in relation to scandal or gossip-driven press. Under privacy and professional rules, photographers are only allowed to portray a celebrity in private if, after having identified and qualified themselves as well as explained what use they intend to make of the pictures, he or she grants consent to the specific use. Absent such consent, ifpublication of private images is not in the interest of the -more or less- famous person, the latter may obtain both interim measures to avoid publication and compensation for damages 10.

We now return to the hypothesis of a person's image used for advertising. The provisions contained in Articles 96 of the Law on Copyright discussed supra prohibit reproduction or exploitation of a person's image for commercial purposes, without their prior consent, and Article 97, paragraph 2 protects the dignity and honour of the person. Those limitations are not displaced by the broad exception in Art. 97, paragraph 1, regarding the public's "right to know". As mentioned, this provision allows the publication of the likeness in the case of an individual's fame and for facts of public interest. However, the public interest cannot, indeed, be identified with the motives of a company to advertise its product. Therefore, the reproduction ofthe likeness cannot be justified either by the fame of the person or the public interest in the facts in which it is involved, if such reproduction is exploited for commercial purposes. This implies that, where consent is required for the dissemination of a person's image for commercial purposes, the consent of the individual concerned is always necessary, with no exceptions: the need of authorisation in advertising applies equally to every image holder, regardless of the degree of fame enjoyed or the interest the public might have in the events in which that person is involved.

In this respect, it is worth noting the order handed down by the Court of Milan" on 27th July 1999, to a petition for a temporary injunction. In this case, the petitioners, a few players of AC Milan, com-

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plained about the abusive use, for purposes of profit and not by way of information, of their name and image within a football calendar aimed at the supporters of AC Milan and applied for an order prohibiting the production and marketing of objects bearing their own image or name. The opposing party attempted to have the matter fall into one of the cases contemplated by Article 97, paragraph 1, of the copyright law, claiming fame as the justification. The Court replied that the "fame to which Article 97 refers consents to the use of a famous person's image only for information purposes and is, certainly indifferent to whether this also happens in the pursuit of profit". But in the case in point, it continued, there could be no doubt whatsoever that the purpose for which the petitioner's image was used was only that of profit, in consideration of the fact that the image applied to objects promoted for sale, without any news or information being offered.

The use of well-known people's images without consent, or outside situations permitted by law, represents an unlawful act from which liability for damages ofa moral and pecuniary nature arise.

The pecuniary damage refers to the harm caused to the (potential) economic exploitation of one's own image and the reduction of its commercial value, as well as the damage caused by the relevant exploitation of another's fame. Quite clearly, one should have a public image (what the US Law defines as "right of publicity") to claim this kind of damages.

The moral (or punitive) damage that is caused by the manipulation or inappropriate use of a person's image stems from a criminal offence, which consists in the invasion of the individual's privacy and freedom to control and use her/his own image.

The specific means of protection is provided by Article 10 of the Civil Code and is characterised by a restraint injunction ("in· ibitoria") and compensation for damages.

4. The Athlete's Right of Self- Marketing

The right of self-marketing, or rather, the right of an athlete exclusively to use his own image for advertising and commercial purposes, leads to a series of problems inherent in the relations between the sports association 12 to which the athlete belongs and the athlete himself.

To begin with, an individual athlete's use of his own image for advertising purposes

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would be unhindered, except when the athlete's image includes the symbols, colours or trademarks of the club to which he belongs 13.

It is in the interest of sporting association to gain the maximum profit from the commercial exploitation of the sports activities performed by their athletes, in such a way as to finance their various initiatives and undertakings.

On the other hand, the athletes are equally interested in freely using their own image for advertising purposes and to gain exclusive advantage of the profits earned in this way. Whose interest is paramount? The sporting associations are free to decide if and how they wish to be involved in advertising-type activities and, closely connected to this theme, if and with whom they should execute sponsorship agreements, in such a way as to promote the activities of all the associate athletes. The athletes, for their part, are entitled to appeal to their professional and contractual freedom.

The right of a sports association to limit the advertising activities personally undertaken by the athlete is subject to the following:

- The association must be clearly authorised to do so by the provisions contained in its Articles of Association;

- The restrictions can only apply in relation to the competitions in which the association is the organiser or co-organiser;

- The association must comply with the principles of fair competition, and

- The association must distribute at least part the profits acquired to the athletes.

One. can vigorously question the propriety of restrictive clauses bearing upon the athletes' image rights in the Articles of Association of the sporting federations and organisations when registration or membership is indispensable to being able to practise the specific sporting discipline. The efficacy of the organisation's rules should be enervated if, at the least, the Articles of Association have not provided the participation to their regulatory (and arguably executive) bodies of a representative from among the athletes. 14

The dichotomy between the rights of sports organisations and the rights of the member athletes apply to the relationship between players and clubs as well.

These issues never cease to emerge in all sports at various levels and in various

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countries, ShOWUlg how difficult it is for a club or federation to control or limit the players' right to exploit their image. This foreclosure is clearly untenable in relation to sports equipment, as is the case of shoes, which is not an essential part of the team's uniform: shoes are not necessary to distinguish teams and athletes on the pitch. It then all comes down to an economic power struggle between the federations! clubs and the players, and between respective sponsors. When it comes to mainly amateur sports, it is unlikely for athletes to be offered individual sponsorships that would justify a confrontation with the federation and the ensuing risk to be banned from relevant international competition. On the contrary, top athletes running for the medals as well as rich and famous football players have it usually their way, with . their federations either closing their eyes

~to the breach of the relevant rules or reforming their rules altogether to allow for a combined collective and individual commercial exploitation. In this respect, the German Football Federation's imposition of Adidas boots on all players of the National team is a rather festering exception.

But to whom do players' image rights truly belong? Who is the owner of the television rights to the team's competitions and training? Within which limits can the club use the image of one or more players or that of the whole team in its own marketing and merchandising activities?

It is normally held in Italy that some of the rights used by football clubs are acquired almost automatically through the Convention in force on the regulation of advertising and promotional activities, which was executed between the Italian Football Players Association - Associazione Italiana Calciatori (AIC) 15 and Professional Leagues (the Lega Nazionale Professionisti and the Lega Professionisti Serie C) in 1981. On the basis of this Convention (as later amended), the players, in consideration for the granting of their image rights as members of the team, would be entitled, unless waived, to a part of all the profits derived from the promotional, advertising and commercial activities of the club using or involving the players' image. However, it is customary for the parties of playing .contracts to tick the box indicating that such additional compensation has been included in the player's salary.

But the Convention tramples the concepts relative to ownership of the rights. In the first place, it wrongfully embarks with the pre-supposition that the football players

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image rights are not freely exploitable by the player (this is inferred a contrario, from Articles 1 and 5). This pre-supposition has been denied, over the years, by the constant behaviour of clubs and players and the decisions of the courts. It is, indeed, an error that could eviscerate the entire Convention. Moreover, numerous doubts arise both as to the efficacy of the Convention towards individual players, especially if they come from foreign federations and are not registered with the AIC, as well as to its hallmark as an agreement in restraint of trade. Furthermore, over the years many of its provisions (in particular Articles 4, 5, 9, 10, 14 and 15) have never been applied, which leads to the conclusion that they are desuetude. From the invalidity or inefficacy of the Convention, it may follow that the clubs are not entitled to undertake advertising activities, which, in some way, imply the use of the players' image, even as included in the team's image. And even if one wished to hold the Convention as totally valid and effective, contrary to the evidence indicated above, players with sufficient economic power or draw can refuse to have the customary wording added to their playing contracts, by which they renounce their participation in commercial revenues deriving fi:om any utilization of their image.

They would then be acknowledged 10% of such revenues. In fact, income derived from the licensing of audiovisual rights would not accrue to those revenues, since team sports broadcasting rights are now statutorily recognized as belonging jointly and exclusively to the clubs. Nevertheless, one can easily understand what disrupting effects would result if this issue, which to date has never been raised, were to burst on the scene.

In such a way as to ward off these risks -and absent more cogent provisions to be included in the new collective bargaining agreement currently under negotiation" - it would be opportune for the club to explicitly agree the acquisition of its registered players'rconsent to the commercial exploitation of their image, thus insuring itself against any possible dispute as to its entitlement to the full income generated by licensing and a&p activities. In compliance with the principle of fair and prudent administration, the club should have an executed agreement specifying that the club in consideration of a defined payment is entitled to use, in all lawful forms, the footballer's image and personal information in a total team image and to commercialize official jerseys' replicas bearing the

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player's name. This at least until such provisions will not be explicitly included in the players' standard contract.

Of course, even in the absence of specific authorization pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement, the use by the Club of the team's image or that of any group of players while performing their professional training and playing activities could be considered as implied and inherent in the employment contract. In short, it could be argued, that upon engaging the player's services for the purpose of organising sports events, the club also acquires the right to use his image as part of the team's image for the very business purposes served by such engagement

On the players' side the exploitation of their own linage for advertising purposes (self-marketing), would be quite unhindered, except where the image exploited by the player's sponsor includes the symbols or trademarks of the club to which the player belongs·.

5. Revocability of Consent to the Use of Image Rights

By 1991, the Corte di Cassazione (highest Italian civil and criminal court) had confirmed and explained that celebrities have an exclusive "right of publicity", therefore an exclusive right to the conunercial exploitation of their image,

In 2004 the issue was further defined, again by a landmark decision of the Corte di Cassazione 18, where it was clarified that the right on one's image is inherent to the person and, as such, is absolute (erga omnes), indisposable, non-assignable and non-negotiable - something that does not quite fall into the definition of a "right of publicity". Nevertheless, the commercial or, broadly speaking, economic exploitation of an individual's image is still possible by the "owner" or by a third party with the owner's permission. Consent, however, may not be the object of a contractual obligation (since the right on one's image is "indisponibile", i.e. not negotiable), but, as an act of forbearance, may well be remunerated.

As a spontaneous and non-binding expression of tolerance, for consideration or not, consent to the exploitation of one's image may be revoked at any time. In case of unjustified withdrawal of consent (e.g. contrary to expectations based on conduct, statement or even duly signed contract), there is no contractual liability towards the "licensee", but rather, arguably, a liability

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in tort deriving from the abusive exercise of the right to deny or withdraw permission. The foregoing principles established by the Corte di Cassazione's decision of 2004 were later continued by the same Court in a second decision dated 19 November 2008 (n. 27506).

The Court's 2004 statement of the nature and scope of the image-right is also relevant in that it confirms that the unauthorised use of a celebrity's image for commercial purposes is in breach of his/her right to

, privacy and publicity,

As noted, the Cassaziones interpretation of the nature and content of linage rights poses a problem in relation to the effectiveness and stability of endorsement and sponsorship contracts. As explained above, an Italian court will inevitably apply Italian law to establish the legal content and nature of an Italian celebrity's image, including when such image (his/her name, portrait, picture, voice etc.) is the object of a sponsorship or, broadly speaking, licensing agreement that is subject to a foreign law. It is also possible that international private law rules of the chosen (foreign) jurisdiction require application of the national (Italian) law of the testimonial/athlete to define the content and nature of the personality rights licensed under the relevant sponsorship contract. This is definitely the case among ED jurisdictions.

Since Italian law does not allow personality rights to be licensed under contract, finding a way to protect advertising, communication and merchandising investments rests mainly on careful drafting of the relevant agreements.

Based on the limitations to the use of personal identity as a registered trademark, as we shall explain, transforming the linage licensing aspect of a sponsorship or endorsement contract in a trademark licensing is not a viable solution.

However, whereas the testimonial-licensor may revoke permission to use his/her picture or name at any time, without notice and without incurring in any contractualliability, he/she may be held liable both for breach of contractual obligations to perform specific activities -such as exclusive use of endorsed products, participation in public events (e.g. celebrations, conventions, press conferences), posing for photographic shootings, acting for video recording etc- as well as for breach of negative obligations, like that of abstaining from use or promotion of competitive products or brands. By connecting breach-

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es of these obligations to (reasonably) heavy penalties -which is allowed under Italian Law-, contractual liability could be added to a kind of liability in tort, which is applicable, as we shall see, whenever the athlete walks out of his sponsorship contract prematurely -by withdrawing permission to the use of his image.

Assuming personality rights may not be the object of a contract, what would be the consequence of a sudden withdrawal of consent by the testimonial to the commercial exploitation of his/her picture in the course of an advertising campaign midway through the relevant sponsorship agreement? Here, in addition to contractual responsibility for possible violations of related, ancillary or consequential contractual obligations as explained above, the "abuse of right" principle would enhance the sponsor's claim for damages. As a general principle of Italian jurisprudence, good faith should always accompany the exercise of a right, whether such right stems from a contract or directly from the law. An action that is permitted ought to be performed, wherever possible, without

Notes

causing unnecessary and deliberate sacrifice to properties or legitimate interests of others. A permission (license) to use an athlete's image is normally included -albeit occasionally, as the Corte di Cassazione would have it- in a sponsorship contract. An unreasonable, unanticipated and frivolous revocation of said authorization to the commercial use of the name, picture and identity, when the owner of such personality rights is aware ofthe intended or actual use thereof, will expose himlher to liability (in tort) for the damages suffered by the good faith beneficiary of such consent. Assessment of damages would still follow the principle of in integrum restitutio, including both expenses sustained (sponsorship fee and related promotional investments) and loss of gain whenever such loss is an immediate and direct (i.e. predictable) consequence of the unlawful act, or even beyond such limit if withdrawal of consent was solely intended to inflict damage upon the sponsor.

In the face of this late jurisprudence, one could think of the possibility to register a person's image and name as a trademark,

which could then be the object of a licensing contract. Indeed, a name and an image, including the picture of a person, can be registered as trademarks to distinguish products or services (art. 7 of the Code of Intellectual Property - Codice della Proprieta Industriale). However, the individual or entity applying for trademark registration must have at least the intention to use it in the manufacturing or trading of products or in the provision of services (Art. 19 of the Code of Intellectual Property). This last specification sets a clear limitation to the possibility of substituting an image right licensing with a trademark licensing in the context of a sponsorship or endorsement relationship. Rather, a sports personality's registered name or image can be used as a trademark in connection with merchandising activities, to brand a per-fume or a clothing line, whether produced by the athlete's company by any other company under the Athlete's trademark license. _

CBA Studio Legale e Tributario, Milan

E.g., art. 6 of the civil rode: right to one's name.

4 Universal Declaration of Human Rights dated 10 December 1948; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights dated 16 December 1966; Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms dated 4 November 1950.

Multilateral convention on the law applicable to surnames and given names, Concluded at Munich on 5 September 1980.

The Rome Convention of 1980 is applicable as a general rule ofItaIian international law and thus not limited to the EU member States. The Convention is currently applied as a uniform set of rules of private international law across the EU jurisdictions as EC Regulation 59312008. Under these rules, absent a contractual choice oflaw, the law most likely to apply to an image licensing agreement is thatof the country of domicile of the testimonial (service provider) under art 4, par. l.b) or art. 4 par. 2.

7 Cassazione Civile Sez. I, 2nd May 1991 No. 4785.

s Gatto v. Soc. La Repubblica ed., Tribunale di Roma, 31st October 1992.

9 Clearly, the uncertainty over the objective and subjective limits to consent is greater when it is tacit or presumed. In these instances, it is up to the judge to conduct the inquiry as to the assessment of the limits. Ajudgement issued by the Rome Court (Rode v. Tiburzi and other, Pretura di Roma, 16th June 1990) established that, in the absence of explicitly defined consent of the individual to the disclosure of his image, the authorisation granted by the party concerned, having not been limited in time or constraints, "shall be understood to be without any limitation and subordinate only to the criterion of so-called foreseeable use, excluding any use that might hann the dignity, honour and reputation".

10 Judici!!! remedies may be requested both under privacy regulations, in front of the Authority for the Protection of Privacy, as well as under art 10 ofthe Civil Code

or art. 96 of the Law on Copyright, in front of the ordinary court,

11 Weah v. Soc. For Service and EPI, Tribunale di Milano, 27th July 1999.

12 Sports organisation is understood here to imply the organisational body of the discipline that the athlete competes in.

13 Vidimi, Societa sportive, page 427, quoted in II contratto di sponsorizzazione sportiva in Attivita motorie e attivita sportive: problematiche giuridiche, edited by Carlo Bottari, Padova2Q02, page 152 and following,

14 Such participation is, for example, foreseen in Italy today by reason of the Italian Legislative Decree No. 242199 (the Melandri Decree) both with reference to the National Olympic Committee - Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano (CONI) as well as with reference to the various sports federations (for example, the Federazione Italians Giuoco Calcio - FIGC).

15 Art. 25, paragraph 2 of the AlC's Articles of Association has foreseen that those footballers who wish to join are obliged to assign to the association, without any temporal limits, "the rights to lise their likeness in the case in which the likeness is displayed, reproduced or sold together with or in concurrence with that of other footballers and, in any case, within the ambit of the commercial exploitation that refers to the entire category". These are, clearly, restrictions that greatly hinder the potential of exploiting one's image rights. (Giorgio Resta, Diritto all'immaglne, right of publicity e disciplina antitrust, in Rivista di diritto sportive, Aprile-Giugno

1997, page 351). .

16 As this article is being written, negotiations are underway between the AlC and the two top Italian Leagues for the definition of the new collective agreement and

related standard playing contract. .

17 Vidimi, Societa sportive, page 427, quoted in II contralto di sponsorizzazlone sportive in Attivita motorle e attivita sportive: problematiche giuridiche, edited by Carlo Bottari, Padova 2002, page 152 and following.

18 Corte di Cassazione, 17th Pebruary 2004, n. 3014

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