Fantasy sports lets fans build virtual teams from real players — a booming, skill-based industry. But it runs straight into the trademarks and publicity rights of leagues, teams and athletes. Here’s how Indian law sorts out whose rights are in play.
Skill, not chance
Fantasy sports lets participants assemble virtual teams of real players, earning points from real-life performance, and managing a roster by adding, dropping and trading players. Indian courts have treated it as a game of skill, not chance:
- Shri Varun Gumber v. UT of Chandigarh (Punjab & Haryana HC) held a participant must use considerable skill, judgment and discretion — drafting a team, assessing each player’s relative worth, following rules, avoiding too many players from one real team, and weighing game, pitch and player conditions.
- Gurdeep Singh Sachar v. Union of India — the Supreme Court, on appeal, treated it as no longer res integra that online fantasy sports lacks any element of betting or gambling.
The trademark problem
A glaring issue for high-profile leagues and teams is trademark piracy. Fantasy developers exploit fans’ desire to identify with a team by recreating everything from apparel to accessories bearing a team name, nickname, player name, logo or symbol — without permission. With pro sports a multi-billion-dollar industry, licensing trademarks and IP has become big business — fuelled by fans’ appetite for anything affiliated with a team or brand.
Celebrity names — Section 14
Section 14 of the Trade Marks Act protects personal names: if an application suggests a connection with a living person, or one who died within 20 years of filing, the Registrar may require the consent of that person (or their successors), and may refuse without it. So you can’t register a mark relating to a celebrity — living or dead — without consent, and using a celebrity’s name in a domain can also be restrained.
Publicity (personality) rights
Beyond trademarks, players hold publicity rights — a bundle vested in an individual’s persona: public image, likeness, name, skills, traits, fan-following. Do fantasy games infringe them by using player names?
- Star India Pvt Ltd v. Piyush Agarwal — the Delhi HC recognised players’ publicity rights, adapted from the right to privacy.
- ICC Development (International) Ltd v. Arvee Enterprises — the Delhi HC held publicity right “vests in an individual and he alone is entitled to profit from it,” and any attempt to shift it from the individual to an event organiser would violate Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution.
The fix: licensing
The cleanest solution is a licensing agreement giving third parties the right to use the registered trademarks and related resources, with clear terms. The goal is to synchronise and protect both sides’ rights — and, importantly, to give better protection to the athletes themselves as the rightful first owners of their name and persona, whose rights are too often treated as secondary to the platforms’.
The takeaways
- Fantasy sports is a game of skill in India — settled by Varun Gumber and Gurdeep Singh Sachar.
- Team marks can’t be used without permission — recreating names, logos or player marks is piracy.
- Section 14 protects celebrity names — you need consent to register a mark relating to a living (or recently deceased) person.
- Players hold publicity rights — vested in the individual alone; license, don’t appropriate.
Frequently asked questions
Is fantasy sports legal in India? Courts have treated online fantasy sports as a game of skill, not gambling — per Varun Gumber and the Supreme Court in Gurdeep Singh Sachar.
Can I use a team’s name and logo in a fantasy game? Not without permission — recreating team names, nicknames, player names or logos without a licence is trademark piracy.
Can I register a trademark using a celebrity’s name? Not without consent — Section 14 lets the Registrar require the consent of a living person (or successors of someone who died within 20 years) and refuse registration otherwise.
Do players have rights over the use of their names? Yes — publicity/personality rights vest in the individual, who alone is entitled to profit from their name, likeness and persona.
Legislation referred to
- The Trade Marks Act, 1999