Sports Image Rights in Kenya

Abstract

Sports in Kenya have grown into an industry as a result of the convergence between sports and business. Kenyan sports persons are famous worldwide following their performance in international sports events. Given their high turnover and the growing fan base of Kenyan sports persons, it is surprising that there is no codified law that expressly recognises a sports person’s right to exercise control over the commercial use of his or her name, image, likeness or other distinctive features, such as voice, signature, nickname and personal attribute. This Thesis argues that the IPR laws of Kenya do not sufficiently address the growing commercial reality regarding the exploitation of sports image rights and there is need for state intervention in regulation of sports image rights to resolve conflicts in the commercialization of sports in Kenya. Premised on the hypothesis that sports persons in Kenya lose economically because there is no right to image in Kenya, Chapter 1 introduces the research, outlining the background to the problem, research objectives, hypotheses, and theoretical framework. Chapter 2 explores the Kenya sports industry to determine the need for legislative intervention of sports image rights while chapter 3 makes a case for Kenyan IPR framework’s incapacity to protect the nature of sports image rights wholly. Chapter 4 considers best practices in the US, Guernsey and South Africa treatment of sports image rights. This leads to chapter 5 which winds up the research by presenting the research findings and making recommendations. This research contributes to the development of an Africanized approach to IPR and it also impacts resolution of sports image rights disputes in Kenya and ultimately, the development of the sports industry.