Australian players to take back image rights
Wed, May 24, '17
Australian cricketers on Wednesday (May 24) unveiled plans to take back their own image rights, firing the latest salvo in an ongoing pay battle with the country’s cricket board.
It is the latest power play in an increasingly bitter stand-off between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association over a plan to scrap revenue-sharing.
With no end in sight to the impasse and the current deal expiring on June 30, the ACA disclosed plans to form a new business to help male and female players directly negotiate sponsorship deals.
Establishing ‘The Cricketers’ Brand’, designed to manage and commercialise players’ intellectual property rights, was necessary due to “the uncertainty of all parties regarding IP matters should the players be unemployed post June 30”.
“When players are threatened with unemployment and when they learn they receive zero percent of the digital revenue they generate, they are naturally concerned,” said Alistair Nicholson, the ACA chief executive.
