Major sporting events

Did you know there was a Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection Bill 2014? (From which you may deduce that I didn’t). It was introduced into Parliament on 26 March 2014.

It is designed to provide protections for certain indicia associated with the upcoming:

  • Asian Football Championships to be held in Australia in 2015;
  • the ICC World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand in 2015; and
  • the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast,

against ‘ambush marketing’. As the EM states:

The Event owners have sought a commitment from the government to protect against the unauthorised commercial use of certain indicia and images associated with the respective events to help them secure and maintain event sponsorship.

If sponsors do not have certainty that they are the only businesses that can directly benefit from association with the Events, they may withdraw their sponsorship or decide not to support the Events. A decrease in sponsorship revenue could increase the need for financial assistance from the Australian Government and/or state and territory governments to stage the events.

The Bill has been modelled on the (now repealed) legislation for the protection of the Sydney Olympic games in 2000 (here and here) and the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006.

As the Simplified Outline explains in clause 15:

Generally speaking, a person cannot use a major sporting event’s 5 protected indicia or images for commercial purposes during the 6 event’s protection period, unless the person is an official user for 7 the event (that is, either an event body or an authorised person for 8 the event).

The remedies provided include injunctions, damages, corrective advertising and a regime for Customs seizure.

Clause 14 explains that:

Doing any of the following is not alone sufficient to suggest the existence of a sponsorship arrangement, or the provision of other support, for the purposes of paragraph 12(1)(c):

(a) using protected indicia or images for the primary purpose of criticism or review;

(b) using protected indicia or images for the primary purpose of providing information, including through reporting news and 14 presenting current affairs.

Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection Bill 2014

Explanatory Memorandum

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