Four footballers sued, this Wednesday, before the Paris judicial court, the famous company publishing self-adhesive stickers founded in Italy, and whose headquarters in France is in Nice. Among them, former OGC Nice midfielder Jérémy Pied, Bruno Ecuele-Manga, Vincent Bessat and the former Rennais now at Manchester City, Jérémy Doku.
All four accuse Panini, the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP), a union which delegates to the company the right to use the collective image, and its structure created to finance it, Promo-Foot, for having exploited their image in albums without their consent.
“We are asking for compensation for the damage suffered linked to the exploitation of their image without authorization. This is moral and material damage which amounts to tens or even hundreds of thousands of euros. This is what we are asking for” summarized Me Elie Dottelonde, lawyer for the four players, reached this Wednesday by telephone.
“UNFP generates millions and players zero”
While being included in the Panini album is obviously always an honor, “this does not mean that all your rights should be taken away. We have the commercial subsidiary of the UNFP which generates millions through this exploitation and the zero players. We just want things to be rebalanced. Not all footballers have the same salary as Kylian Mbappé. adds the Parisian council.
“We are told that money serves the general interest [le financement des actions à destination des joueuses et des joueurs de football]. In more than 3 years of procedure, we do not have an accounting document that proves this to us.” he charges again.
Deliberated on May 15
Me Rémi Kleiman, lawyer for the UNFP, and Me Robert Chemla, counsel for Panini, requested that the four players have their requests dismissed.
The court reserved its decision until May 15.
“There are a lot of people who follow this procedure very carefully,” insisted Mr. Dottelonde.
2024-03-13 23:10:56
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