학생 선수의 NIL 권리와 퍼블리시티권의 법적 고찰

This study legally examines the "NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) rights," which have recently triggered a massive shift in the U.S. college sports landscape, and explores ways to incorporate them into the legal system to protect and promote the rights of student-athletes in South Korea. NIL rights are legally rooted in the "right of publicity," which protects the commercial value of an individuals identity markers, such as name, image, and likeness. By analyzing the policy changes and related precedents of the U.S. NCAA, which had strictly limited student-athletes' profit-making activities based on amateurism, this paper defines the scope of legitimate rights exercise for student-athletes. In particular, this paper points out the unique structural problems faced by Korean student-athletes, such as a closed training environment, vulnerability to infringement of learning rights, and unfair contracts. To address these issues, this study proposes a design for a "Korean-style NIL system" that can simultaneously protect the human rights and learning rights of student-athletes beyond merely allowing profit-making. The findings confirm that specific legal mechanisms are essential, including a pre-confirmation system through dedicated school counters for NIL contracts, mandatory reporting for contracts above a certain scale, the introduction of standard contracts for minor athletes, and the establishment of dispute resolution bodies. In conclusion, guaranteeing NIL rights for student-athletes is not merely about providing opportunities for profit-making amid sports commercialization, but a process of realizing legal justice that recognizes student-athletes as independent right-holders and protects their personal and property values. This research is significant in that it provides normative guidelines for future legislative amendments and the establishment of regulations by sports organizations.