From
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/...
July 19, 2005
Beckham betting case dismissed
By Andrew Ellson, Times Online
The likelihood of David Beckham and his Real Madrid team mates names disappearing from betting websites has lessened after a decision in a French court
Gamblers who enjoy a flutter on Spanish football and, in particular, Real Madrid, can breathe a sigh of relief after a French judge dismissed an injunction to stop the use of the Spanish club and its players' names on bookmakers' websites.
Representatives of Real Madrid and its five most high profile galaticos - Ronaldo, Beckham, Raul, Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo - argued that seven online bookmakers including Ladbrokes, Sportingbet and William Hill, should either pay a licence fee to use the names or stop taking bets on the club and its players.
In seeking the injunction, Jean-Luis Dupont, the lawyer who famously won the Bosman freedom-of-contract case and is representing Real Madrid, claimed the bookmakers were using the names for commercial reasons.
But the bookmakers, who worked together to stop the injunction, denied the allegation, arguing that the use of the club's name and listing of its players names in bets is factual reporting rather than promotional.
Real Madrid is very protective of the intellectual property rights of its top players, who include some of the world's biggest footballing stars.
It is unknown whether Real Madrid plans to continue to fight to stop the bookmakers. A full hearing to address the case was due sometime next year, but the decision to dismiss the injunction is a setback to the club and players.
A source close to the case said Real Madrid chose to fight the case in France, despite it representing only a fraction of the online gambling market, because of the countrys notoriously tough privacy laws.
Clive Hawkswood, a spokesman for the Assocation of Remote Gambling Operators, the organisation that represents leading online bookmakers, told Times Online that the case was important because if Real Madrid had won it could have set a precedent.
"This unusual case has seen Real Madrid and its Galacticos pursue legal action merely for the use of club and players' names in betting markets such as first goalscorer bets.
"If the injunction had gone against us it would have encouraged every other footballer and sportsman to take similar action.
"We hope this is the end of the matter."
Graham Sharpe, a spokesman for William Hill added: "We never believed we had a case to answer in the first place."