Intellectual property rights? Isn't this all something devised to make a few very rich sportsmen, and their lawyers, richer still?

Intellectual Property Rights are the foundations upon which many businesses are built, but Britain has lagged behind most of the rest of the developed world. Years ago the courts in this country held that personalities (real or fictional) had no rights to prevent others trading off their names unless protected by trade mark or copyright.

Hence Telly Savalas was unable to stop a manufacturer calling his product "Kojak Lollipops". Contrast this with the position in the United States where basketball player Kareeml Abdul-Jabar was able to stop a car manufacturer from using his original name, Lew Alcindor, even though he had given up using that name years previously.

In recent years, the British courts have started to recognise what we all knew for years: that sportsmen and women also carry on business as endorsing their own intellectual property rights and this is legitimate interest that the courts would protect. The watershed was when Eddie Irvine was able to stop TalkSport from using his image in an advert.

With the limited career span of a sportsman or women, it is important that they be able to maximise their income during their peak and it is ridiculous that Mickey Mouse has better protection under the law than David Beckham.

If you printed a T-Shirt with Donald Duck on it you would soon hear from the Disney Corporation – why shouldn’t the captain of England have similar rights?

Why are football clubs taking such a close interest in the intellectual property rights of their players?

As transfer fees and wages spiral upwards, clubs are trying to recoup some of their outlay by licensing the property rights of their players.

Its not just football clubs. What is the point of Vodafone paying Manchester United millions as official sponsor if, say, Orange could use the property rights of the whole of the Manchester United squad without their permission.

The need for clubs to be able to gain income from property rights of players is all the more important when, as is increasingly common, clubs have, as well as signing the player, separately signed up his intellectual property rights. While this is often done for tax reasons, if the club cannot exploit the rights it has purchased, it does have a number of potential adverse effects.

The Real Madrid case was brought to try to prevent bookmakers from "profiting" by taking bets on match scores and scorers. If successful, would this be the end for sports betting?

The bookmakers have recently had a run of successes in the courts, with William Hill defeating the British Horse Racing Board over use of its racing data and now the win in the French courts against the claim brought by Real Madrid and its players.

Had Real Madrid won, it would have been a boost not just to individuals but also to governing bodies like the Football League and BHB still reeling from the earlier decision.

As it is, with this win, the status quo is maintained. Had the bookmakers lost it would have been very costly for them but ultimately would have meant that some bookmakers would have gone to the wall.

Who will be next? Will sports photographers be banned from taking pictures, or journalists forbidden from mentioning the name of a sportsman in their reports?

Clubs and events have become more conscious of their intellectual property rights in recent years and have tried to prevent newspapers and photographers from using photos taken in grounds other than for news reporting. The Newspaper Publishers Association has found a long battle against some sports who have tried to limit this commercial exploitation. Certainly, had Real Madrid won, it would have been another argument against such unauthorised exploitation.

However, some bookmakers use images of footballers and horse races in their advertising and I expect that this will be the next area of attack for some sports and players. After all, if Eddie Irvine can stop a radio station using his image in an advert, then why could he not stop, say, Ladbrokes.

Where does Jean-Louis Dupont, the lawyer representing Real Madrid who made his name in the Bosman case, fit into all this?

Jean-Louis Dupont has made his name defending the rights of players and this was a logical extension to the argument that a player has rights which are not to be exploited without his or her consent.

I imagine that he may well be thinking about a challenge in the European Courts to this decision.

Nick Bitel, a partner at Max Bitel, Greene Solicitors, is one of Britain's leading sports lawyers, and as well as working as the chairman of London Marathon Ltd, he has worked for, among others, Wimbledon, the Ryder Cup and the British Horse Racing Board.

Max Bitel, Greene Solicitors

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