France/Image rights: UNFP & Panini vindicated, but ordered to compensate 4 players

"The UNFP welcomes the decisions handed down by the Paris Court of First Instance on 15/05/2024 which, as the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal had already done in its "Moulin à huile" ruling in 2004, confirm that it is perfectly entitled to exploit the collective image rights of professional football players in application of the Charte du Football Professionnel (Professional Football Charter)," declared the French Professional Footballers' Union on 16/05/2024.

UNFP, its subsidiary Nouvelle Promofoot set up in 1985 to manage the marketing of players' collective image rights, and Panini, an Italian manufacturer of collectible cards and stickers, which pays the Union an estimated €2.5m a year to use players' images in its various products, were taken to court in October 2021 by four footballers (Vincent Bessat, Jérémy Pied, Jérémy Doku and Bruno Ecuele Manga) who challenged the use of their images in connection with the Panini sticker albums.

While the Paris Court of First Instance found in favour of the UNFP and its partner in terms of their legitimacy to exploit the collective image…