1. Labour Structure of Professional Players and their Employment Rights
By Adv. Nikita Vaigankar, Practicing Advocate, Goa District Court (LL.M in Intellectual Property Law)
Sports are a form of recreation and a game of skills, wherein players can’t be controlled on how to play on the field but can be guided and protected by their employers with appropriate rules of employment. This research therefore, revolves around a central question Whether a relationship of employer and employee exists between a player and an organization to which a player is attached to and what is the structure of such a relation? It is significant to note that this research covers sportspersons as employees, who play sports as a part of their professional activity and earn an income only through this source. However, this research doesn’t cover coaches, referees and other employees of any club or Federation or even the players who play sports just for recreational purposes. Thus, this research contains and covers governing of employment law in sports with respect to the rights and privileges of a player when he is an employee of a sports-related organization, be it a team, federation, franchise or a club. The highlight of this research is to create awareness among readers that even a sportsperson is an employee and is under the control of some organization of which he/she is a part. Moreover, this research shall also focus on an important aspect of restraint of trade in sports and its consequences.
2. Tax Liability on Fantasy Sports in India
By Ashlesha Suryawanshi
From Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai
Fantasy sports are virtual games and currently, these games are trending because of pandemic causes due to Covid 19. In this sport, participants create virtual teams of their favorite players and then they performed. Many times, fantasy sports are misunderstood as gambling because there is a debate between whether fantasy sports are a game of skill or a game of chance. but after the legalization of fantasy sports, it is not considered gambling. Here, this article talks about Taxation on fantasy sports. And answer some research questions like how much tax would one pay for fantasy sports, what is the status of fantasy sports companies in case of taxation, etc.
3. 2013 IPL Match Fixing Controversy- An analysis with respect to Betting in Sports
By Pratibha Chandiramani
From KES Shri Jayantilal H. Patel Law College, Mumbai
It is a well-known fact that as per the central legislation, the Public Gambling Act of 1867, betting on cricket matches is illegal. Betting on sports in India is mostly prohibited excluding betting on horse races. However, the subject of sports comes under the state list. Thus, different states have drawn up separate rules concerning gambling and betting in sports. But none of these states permit illegal match-fixing and betting. The dispute concerning the legality of online betting is still not resolved in India. Cricket is undoubtedly India’s most popular sport. The Indian Premier League, popularly known as “IPL”, is India’s most-watched sports match. Over the years, IPL has played an important part in the economic growth of India. The 2015 IPL season allegedly contributed 11.5 billion rupees to the GDP of the Indian economy. A few years after the league’s inception, rumors relating to match-fixing and betting started making rounds. The owners and franchisees repeatedly denied the speculations, nonetheless, the fraud was discovered in 2013.
4. Product Liability Rule under Consumer Protection Law: Assessing the Cross-Jurisdictional Position in U.K, U.S & India
By Joysree Das
From School of Law, Presidency University, Bengaluru
&
By Manvee
From Chanakya National Law University, Patna
With the enactment of new Consumer Protection Act 2019 in India, consumers in India have been benefitted in many aspects be it regulations for e-commerce or penalties for misleading advertisements, moreover the most important part of this new act was the product liability concept. This paper aims to provide an economic analysis of law with reference to product liability rule and the law of torts. Further, with the approach of the product obligation laws in India, it would be likewise interesting to study how economics and law forms a piece of working machinery through legislation and enactments in recent developments. In this paper a detailed comparative analysis has been provided for the product liability rule in United Kingdom, United States of America & India. How the concept of product liability evolved has been explained along with the case law development that took place in the evolution of the concept all around the world. In the end the authors have provided the landmark cases of India in relation to product liability concept along with the recommendation for the Consumer Law in India.
5. Transfer of Players in Indian Premier League – A Critique
By Pratibha Chandiramani
From KES Shri Jayantilal H. Patel Law College, Mumbai
Transfer of players in professional sports is conducted as per the guidelines developed by sport’s governing bodies. Guidelines are established as per international standardized rules in order to encourage international sporting transfers. Transfer of players among different clubs in home leagues is very common in Football. However, the transfer of players in cricket has not garnered much attention. In 2008, the Indian Premier League, or as famously abbreviated, ‘IPL’ was established. Participating teams compete in a two-month-long Twenty20 (T20) cricket league. With every consecutive year, the fan following of the league has increased considerably. This research article focuses on the concept of Mid-season transfer of players in IPL, introduced in 2019, and analyzing the criticism that the system has received.
6. Ambush Marketing in Sports Realm
By Manvee & Ananya Gauri Agarwal
From Chanakya National Law University, Patna
Ambush Marketing is a kind of marketing strategy where a brand directly or indirectly tries to show association to an event, despite not being its official sponsor. This is done to advertise and capitalize on brand goodwill, without having to pay the hefty sum to become the official sponsor of the event. The objective of this kind of marketing is to give an impression that the brand is, in some way, connected to the event, to derive the commercial benefits of being an “official sponsor,” without actually being one. This kind of marketing is unethical. It demotivates brands from paying colossal sponsorship fees and become an official sponsor, since other brands can benefit from it, on the official sponsors’ goodwill. This is a common practice in Indian sporting events and lack of legislation is causing these unethical marketing strategies to go unregulated. Many countries, such as – Canada, Australia, England, Brazil, China, have brought about legislation or amendments to fix liability on users of this marketing strategy. India too should legislate on the matter, since it is having a lot of large-scale events being organized, and the need to protect the interests of the official sponsor is paramount.
7. Dispute Resolution System in Indian Sports & Need for Its Betterment
By Pratibha Chandiramani
From KES Shri Jayantilal H. Patel Law College, Mumbai
In our country, disputes in sports are resolved through multiple mediums viz. courts, specialized tribunals, or alternative dispute resolution (ADR) which includes arbitration, mediation, negotiation, and conciliation. In the past few decades, the system of alternative dispute resolution has gained popularity among people. However, the system of ADR is still developing and speedy changes are required to be made for smooth settlement of disputes. The research paper focuses upon the methods that are available for the resolution of disputes in the field of sports. This research paper provides an analysis of the existing system of dispute resolution. The paper also attempts to understand the problems that are prevalent in the current system of dispute resolution and goes on to suggest certain measures that can be adopted to improve the dispute resolution machinery.
8. Negotiating Athlete Endorsement Agreement in India
By Adv. Nikita Vaigankar, Practicing Advocate, Goa District Court (LL.M in Intellectual Property Law)
Engaging famous athletes in endorsement has been an emerging trend in India. These opportunities offer off-field earnings to a player. This article attempts to discuss the opportunities for athletes to participate in endorsements. It also discusses some of the key issues popping up in such endorsements and their effect on the career of these sportspersons. Now, we shall discuss in detail how a player’s performance and a brand performance or success to which the said player is associated they are directly related and dependent upon each other and how an athlete himself can control his/her performance as well as the performance of a brand which he endorses or advertises. In this research, we shall look upon the ingredients or the essentials of an endorsement agreement from the point of view of an athlete as well as from the point of view of a company that signs a particular athlete for sponsoring the product as well as service. We shall further discuss the risk factors arising due to the non-static performance of the players, the company has to possess when they sign a famous athlete to advertise their product and also look upon negative as well as positive impacts of such endorsement agreements. We shall look upon and understand certain factors which are important to give the dominant position to the players while negotiating the terms in an endorsement agreement.
9. Contempt of Court in India – An Overview
By Yash Sinha
From K.P Mehta School of Law, NMIMS Mumbai
Whenever there is any conscious attempt to scandalize the court, one needs to understand that it hits the confidence of the litigant public and this challenges the fair procedure of the judiciary. It also creates a setback for the idea of rule of law, if a court allows a lawyer or a litigant to malign a judge just to get orders in his favor, the judicial system of that country is compromised at that very instance. This article has tried addressing certain basic questions that evolve around the concept of Contempt of Court by analyzing the Prashant Bhushan’s tweet controversy on Former CJI S.A Bobde. The origins of this concept in India and the legal updates that have been followed. The article has also analyzed the inherent powers of the Constitution, distinction between Criminal Contempt of Court and Defamation & the Law Commission’s report on the need for Criminal Contempt of Court.
10. Artificial Intelligence and The Need for Reform in Copyright Laws
By Gautam Badlani
From Chanakya National Law University, Patna
Artificial intelligence has witnessed unprecedented growth in the past few decades. AI is now capable of independent decision-making and creating scientific, literary, and artistic innovations. However, this fast-paced growth of AI has left lawmakers struggling to adapt to the new challenges arising out of AI’s development. The number of innovations made by AI has been increasing and the existing copyright laws are not suitable to provide copyright protection to the AI-based creative innovations. This article seeks to analyze the copyright-related challenges arising out of the development of AI technology and suggest the solution for the same. Furthermore, this article also compares the various solutions and highlights their implications.
Legal Spectrum Journal 