The worldwide betting market, in its various forms and virtual platforms, has been moving astronomical figures involving football teams around the world.
This betting market is massively supported by football and, among the countries whose passion is this sport, Brazil occupies a prominent position, because its relevance is imposed by the revealed talents and the competitions in its various series, states and regions.
For example, the amounts traded in 2014, according to a survey by the International Center for Sport Security, the volume of betting, only in the football segment, was around R$ 500 billion (US$ 126bn) and has been experiencing vertiginous growth.
According to a report published in the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo in December 2017, a survey by KPMG and RGA shows that Brazilians residing in the country are responsible for over R$ 1 billion (US$ 253m) in bets on foreign prognostic sites on Brazilian competitions, all based in tax havens such as Malta, Curacao, Gibraltar, Cayman Islands, UK, Dublin, Cyprus and even, among others, Portugal.
The betting movement resulting from Brazilian competitions does not produce financial results for clubs, federations and confederations, since companies that exploit the online gaming market are not based in our country and appropriate brands and properties of Brazilian teams and entities without any financial compensation, infringing the protection of intellectual property and copyright.
Although bets can be placed in a physical or virtual environment, most of the time providers of such betting services use world wide web platforms that provide real-time information, so that bets are placed by any individual anywhere in the world.
There are, therefore, gamblers from various countries making their predictions in disputes of Brazilian teams in various competitions promoted by the Brazilian governing bodies, which leads us to believe that relevant values are failing to enter the coffers of clubs and governing bodies.
After assessing the legal aspects, it is clear that there is a wealth-filled safe for clubs waiting for the key to open it. This will surely be the biggest source of income for football clubs, more than television itself.
It is up to the governing bodies, such as club representatives, or the individual clubs themselves if they are missing, to put their keys in this safe to seek compensation to which they are entitled because of the use their brands.
The Copyright Law in our country is protected by Law 9.610 / 98, and it can be extracted from the list of works that are protected by the legal system, making the exception that this description is merely exemplary.
The trade mark regime, inserted in the industrial property, aims to protect what distinguishes a trader's product, merchandise or service: the brand. In the modern world, it can be said, without exaggeration, that brands have become one of the most important assets of companies, not infrequently, of greater value than their movable and immovable property.
Trademarks are any symbols, names, figures, three-dimensional shapes or visually perceptible signs used by manufacturers, traders, self-employed professionals, entities or companies to identify the products or services of their activities.
Any words, shapes, drawings, signs, etc. may be considered as recordable, provided that they are not identical or similar to other trademarks that already belong to someone in the same line of business or are not included in the prohibitions of the law.
Article 124 of the Intellectual Property Law (Law 9.279, of 14.5.1996) can be found cases of trademarks that do not have the protection of registration.
Depending on your application, brands may be: product or service, certification, and collective. A product or service mark is considered to be one used to distinguish identical or similar products or services of different origin.
At the National Institute of Industrial Property (Inpi), the trademark, whose reputation transcends its original market segment, has special protection in all classes.
Their recognition is measured in the field of activity of their reference products / services, regardless of previous deposit or registration in the Paris Convention signatory countries.
Therefore, the brands, symbols, logos and other distinctive signs of the football governing and governing bodies are exclusively the same and, without their authorization, may not be used without obtaining the appropriate authorization through free or costly assignment, allowing to seek, with the key that will open the safe, just compensation for present and future use, as well as for the past not prescribed in the whole universe of betting.
Nor is it alleged that these gambling sites use public information, which is the result of the football match, because before the game bets are made, and the brands – business social reasons of the clubs - are made available to the gambler, which moves billions of dollars, euros, yen, in short, all the currencies in the world, without the clubs being given even the slightest stake in this billionaire business.
Carlos Miguel C. Aidar is a lawyer and former president of OAB-SP. He was also president of the Sao Paulo Football Club for two terms, the first between 1984 and 1988, and the second between 2014 and 2015.
Source: Consultor Jurídico (Brazil)
