A wild shot with a bat? That's my trademark

By Mark Davies
BBC News Online

Me in action. Hands off, phone companies

Whether it's the drooping moustache of David Bedford or the bandanas of David Beckham, more and more celebrities are seeking to protect their image rights.

It's my trademark: the wild swish at the ball with a cracked bat covered in red marks, followed closely by flattened stumps scattered around the dusty pitch.

After that, a petulant trudge back to the pavilion is closely followed by the hurling of bat against dressing room wall.

All, I have to tell you, are very characteristic of my approach to the glorious game of cricket.

And so any advertiser with designs on using any of these distinctive trademarks to promote their products needs to know that I won't hesitate to call on my lawyers.

It is, as anyone who ever saw me grace the cricket pitches of the North Yorkshire and South Durham league will testify, an unlikely prospect.

And even if it did happen, it'd be hard to argue that such images carried with them any potential value to me.

Lookalikes? The 118 118 adverts led to David Bedford's complaint

But those men and women who really do have something to offer in terms of sporting excellence are increasingly aware of the earning potential of their image.

And companies hoping some of the sporting stardust will rub off on their products need to be more and more careful about how they go about such associations.

Part of the package

On Tuesday, former athlete David Bedford won a ruling against phone directory service 118118 over their adverts featuring two runners in 1970s garb.

Eddie Irvine case was "a landmark"

Communications regulator Ofcom said Mr Bedford had a point when he said The Number company had caricatured his image - drooping moustache, shoulder-length hair and running kit - without his permission.

It's unlikely that in Mr Bedford's heyday he and his peers gave much thought to how much their image was worth.

Indeed, it's hard to imagine the curly permed, ample-bellied footballers of the era poring over their contracts for details of Beckham-like image rights.

These days it's all part of the package: top players will expect their transfer deals to include a sizeable sum in exchange for allowing clubs to trade on their image.

And as such agreements become more common, cases like that involving David Bedford are, according to lawyers, marking a change in the UK's approach to alleged infringements of a celebrity's image rights.

Also significant was a case involving racing driver Eddie Irvine. Radio station TalkSport had manipulated an image of the driver so that it appeared that he was listening to the station.

'Passing off'

The judge in the case agreed that there was a commercial value in the endorsement to Irvine and awarded him £25,000 damages.

David Bedford's action is important because alongside the Eddie Irvine case, it is another means by which image rights can be protected Adrian Rubenstein Couchman Harrington Associates

"The case involving Eddie Irvine was a landmark," says Mr Bedford's solicitor, Adrian Rubenstein, of sports media law firm Couchman Harrington Associates.

"A form of image rights was established by shoehorning it into an old legal mechanism called 'passing off'."

That usually involves cases where companies use a brand name which is similar to another well-established name.

Those taking the action must show that customers may be confused and that the company could face losses.

"Eddie Irvine showed that part of his business was providing endorsements for product," says Mr Rubenstein.

Taken for granted

"By using that image without his consent, it was effectively passing themselves off, confusing people into thinking Eddie Irvine had endorsed their services."

Wayne Rooney: Registering name as trademark

Such cases are relatively common outside the UK - sports stars including Mohammed Ali, Tiger Woods and Franz Beckenbauer have all won cases over the commercial use of their names and images.

And while countries like the US, Germany and France have specific legal rights over image, the UK does not.

"David Bedford's action is important because alongside the Eddie Irvine case, it is another means by which image rights can be protected," says Mr Rubenstein.

The issue has gained more currency in the UK since the influx of foreign footballers who expect their contracts to include remuneration for use of their image by their club.

"It is something which is taken for granted, that there has to be some kind of image rights structure," says Mr Rubenstein.

The players' case was further boosted when an Inland Revenue challenge to arrangements between Dutch footballer Dennis Bergkamp and his Arsenal club failed.

Name game

That, alongside the Irvine and Bedford cases, is providing protection for celebrities seeking to guard their image rights, says Mr Rubenstein.

And some sports stars such as Everton and England footballer Wayne Rooney are seeking to trademark their surnames in further efforts to capitalise on the earning potential of their image.

But perhaps protecting one's image rights is not as new as it seems.

Back in 1929, English amateur golf champion Cyril Tolley took on chocolate manufacturer J S Fry and Sons over the use of his image.

An advertisement carried a caricature of him playing a stroke in an attempt to compare his quality as a golfer with the quality of the company's products.

Tolley's concern, however, was not any loss of earnings - but that he might, as an amateur, be banned from the game if it was thought he was endorsing chocolate bars.