The Olympics and Intellectual Property: The Untold Story Behind the Gold Medal

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is an international organization responsible for the development of sports and the Olympic Games. The IOC holds a wide range of intellectual property rights related to the Olympics and takes strong legal measures to protect these assets. Today we will explore the intellectual property issues and disputes associated with the IOC.

Firstly the IOC legally protects Olympic-related names the Olympic rings and event emblems by registering them as trademarks in various countries. The Olympics is not merely an international event; it is a legally protected intellectual property. Specifically the IOC has enacted special laws that allow for the punishment of unauthorized use of Olympic symbols or slogans under trademark law copyright law and unfair competition law. As an example South Korea enacted a special law for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics stipulating that unauthorized use of related symbols could result in up to five years of imprisonment or a fine of up to 50 million KRW.

Secondly sponsorship disputes have arisen. At large international events it is common to see official sponsors advertisements filling the venues. However some companies have unofficially conducted Olympic-related advertising undermining the value of sponsorship. The IOC has taken legal action against such companies with the Rule 40 regulation becoming a point of controversy during the 2016 Rio Olympics. This regulation limited athletes from promoting sponsors not associated with the Olympics during the event leading to criticism from many athletes who felt it restricted their ability to generate income. Although the IOC has since relaxed this regulation to some extent strict guidelines remain in place.

Thirdly the IOC has intensified its regulation of broadcasting rights. There have been cases where some broadcasters attempted to air Olympic events without the IOCs permission leading to legal disputes. The IOC has been proactive in protecting broadcasting rights recently filing thousands of DMCA takedown requests against infringing URLs. The 2024 Paris Olympics has also seen copyright infringement issues being addressed more seriously. The IOC has collaborated with Friend MTS to combat the threat of unauthorized live streaming and as of the end of 2023 it had submitted approximately 5907 DMCA takedown requests to Google.

Lastly copyright infringement is a significant issue. The IOC strongly responds to the unauthorized use of Olympic-related content. In 2021 it even requested the cessation of the use of Beom-i & Gom-i the representative characters of Gangwon Province claiming they resembled the official Olympic mascots Soohorang and Bandabi. As a result Gangwon Province had to organize a contest to create replacement characters to continue its related projects.

Through these examples it is clear that the IOC takes various legal measures to protect the intellectual property related to the Olympics and will continue to make unseen efforts behind the scenes. This reaffirms that the Olympics is not just a sports event but a globally recognized sports spectacle.

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