‘Jumping on the Brand Wagon’: ‘Association Rights’ and the Thematic Space of the Sports Mega-Event

Chapter
First Online:
Part of the ASSER International Sports Law Series book series (ASSER)

Abstract

This chapter will conclude the critical examination of the legal implications of special anti-ambushing laws by focusing on what is currently the pinnacle of international legal developments in respect of special event commercial rights protection, namely the relatively new legal creature that has come to be known as the ‘association right’ to an event. It will critically examine a number of aspects of these very substantial and controversial new pseudo-intellectual property rights, which require closer scrutiny and serious consideration in terms of fundamental legal principles. These include the issue of the legitimacy of using the mechanism of public power (in the form of legislation) to protect narrow, private commercial interests to events; the questions of what such laws are aimed at protecting and what they in fact seek to outlaw; and the considerable costs of such special laws in the greater scheme of the public interest in the staging of sports mega-events.

Keywords

Trade Mark Olympic Game Event Organiser International Olympic Committee Thematic Space 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© T.M.C. ASSER PRESS, The Hague, The Netherlands, and the author(s) 2012

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.School of Law, Howard College CampusUniversity of KwaZulu-Natal KingDurbanSouth Africa

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