Intellectual Property Right is the temporary grants of monopoly intended to give economic incentives for innovative activity. IPR exist in the form of patents, copyrights, and trademarks.
Indian players earn in the range of 3-5 crore through a single endorsement. The amount they earn form individual sponsors is much higher than what they would have earned from match fees and official logos for years. Here the conflict of interest between ICC and the players was regarding a particular clause in the contract where ICC sought to protect the sponsors of the Champions Trophy from ambush marketing. Indian players denied signing the contract which forces them to relinquish all intellectual property and personal commercial rights.
At a first glance, it seems that players are giving too much importance to individual sponsors and representing the country is not that important for them. But by signing the contract they will violate the existing contracts with individual sponsors which may put them into trouble. Moreover, the new will be valid from 30 days before the tournament to 30 days after the tournament. Players correctly pointed out that signing the contract was already a violation as less than a month was remaining for the tournament.
This is not a new thing in sports. In 1996 world cup, many Indian players refused to take drinks from official sponsors of the world cup Coca Cola as they were already endorsed to Pepsi. Here BCCI has already signed the contract without consulting the players during Muthiah’s regime as claimed by BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya whereas Muthiah clarified that the controversial clause was not there while he signed the contract. Hence BCCI has not followed the proper procedure before signing the contract. They should read it carefully make necessary modifications then sign it and keep a copy with themselves.
Here players are in a position of negotiation as they are essential for the good performance of the team and they are also getting support from players of other countries. But same may not be the case for normal employees joining in entry level positions. It may be the time for more stringent laws to protect the individual innovations and make employees aware of their rights.