프로축구선수의 퍼블리시티권 보호에 관한 연구

Recently, as South Korean professional football players have been active in overseas professional football leagues and gained widespread popularity, there has been a growing argument that the economic value of their likenesses should be protected under the right of publicity. However, the concept of the right of publicity is not yet clearly defined in South Korea, and there is considerable controversy regarding its legal nature. It is a newly emerging right, and lower court rulings have shown inconsistent positions on whether to recognize it. Additionally, there is no clear legal basis that comprehensively regulates the right of publicity, making it difficult to effectively protect these rights. Furthermore, the right of publicity in the sports field has unique characteristics that distinguish it from other fields, necessitating further discussion beyond the existing debates on the protection of the right of publicity. In particular, it is necessary to review the relevant regulations of the Korea Professional Football League and the player contracts concerning the protection of the right of publicity for professional football players. Therefore, this paper first organizes the concept, legal nature, effectiveness, trends in lower court rulings, and legislative trends related to the right of publicity in South Korea. It then examines the protection of the right of publicity by reviewing major cases from the United States, Germany, and Japan. Subsequently, the paper explores the unique characteristics and scope of protection of the right of publicity in the sports field, and reviews the relevant regulations in the Korea Professional Football League and professional sports player contracts. Based on this, the paper examines the current methods and limitations of protecting the right of publicity for professional football players under the existing system, and proposes ways to improve the protection of the right of publicity.