Copyrightability of Digital Player Cards in Online Fantasy Sports: A Conundrum in the Indian Copyright Law

Abstract

Online fantasy sports gaming provides a platform for real-life sportspersons to compete on virtual playing fields. The COVID-19 pandemic witnessed a sharp rise in the Indian online fantasy gaming sector and has reflected no signs of a slowdown thereafter. There usually exists an element of digitised visual art which are used more often than not as trading cards. These cards at present have become very popular on the online fantasy sports platforms. However, the primary issue that arises for these online fantasy sports platforms is exclusivity and copyrightability of their player cards. The cards contain including but not limited to player names, images and statistics, which are all available in the public domain. Additionally, this issue of copyrightability clashes with the personality rights of the sportspersons. Thereafter, we will discuss the copyrightability of the digital player cards (DPCs), which would address questions like whether a player’s statistical information and image is copyrightable, thus calling for licensing by these fantasy platforms. Furthermore, we shall analyse the position taken by the Delhi High Court on the publicity rights of the sportspersons in the Digital Collectibles case in light of the set precedents.