运动员形象权的法律保护

A study of legal protection for athlete's image right

运动员形象权的概念来自美国法,它是一种有别于隐私权、姓名权等人身权的无形财产权,美国有些州法将之规定为一项独立的知识产权。世界各国关于运动员形象权的保护规定不一,主要有民法典关于人身权的一般规定及其类推适用,受知识产权法、反不正当竞争法等保护,独立规定形象权的国家很少。运动员形象利益是运动员的一项重要的财产利益,在不同的项目、不同的运动员身上表现不同。运动员与经纪人、俱乐部、赞助商等关于运动员形象权开发方面存在利益冲突,运动员往往处于弱势,需要明确的法律规定予以调整。我国现行法律规定类似于大陆法系国家的做法,并未规定独立的形象权,要顺应国际趋势加以规定。

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.