Chapter II: Professional sport

A sports association or company referred to in Articles L. 122-1 or L. 122-2 may enter into a contract with a professional athlete or trainer whom it employs relating to the commercial exploitation of his/her image, name or voice.

In the performance of the contract referred to in the first paragraph of this article, professional athletes and trainers may not be considered to be linked to the association or sports company by a legal relationship of subordination characteristic of a contract of employment, within the meaning of articles L. 1221-1 and L. 1221-3 of the French Employment Code, and the fee paid to them under this contract does not constitute a salary or remuneration paid in return for, or on the occasion of, work, within the meaning ofarticle L. 242-1 of the French Social Security Code, provided that :

1° The physical presence of professional athletes or trainers is not required to commercially exploit their image, name or voice;

2° The fees paid to professional athletes or trainers do not depend on the salary received under the employment contract but on the revenue generated by the commercial use of their image, name or voice.

The contract referred to in the first paragraph of this article specifies, on pain of nullity :

a) The extent of the commercial exploitation of the image, name or voice of the professional athlete or trainer, in particular the duration, purpose, context, media and geographical area of this commercial exploitation ;

b) The method of calculating the amount of the royalty paid in this respect, in particular on the basis of the revenue generated by this commercial use;

c) The maximum royalty that may be paid to the professional athlete or trainer as well as the minimum remuneration under the employment contract from which the contract mentioned in the same first paragraph may be concluded by the professional athlete or trainer as defined by the national collective agreement mentioned in the last paragraph.

The sports association or company shall immediately forward the contract concluded in application of this article to the body mentioned in article L. 132-2 of this code.

A decree determines the categories of revenue generated by the commercial exploitation of the image, name or voice of the professional athlete or trainer likely to give rise to the payment of royalties.

A national collective agreement, concluded for each discipline, sets the ceiling on the royalties that may be paid to the professional athlete or trainer as well as the minimum remuneration under the employment contract from which the contract mentioned in the first paragraph may be concluded by the professional athlete or trainer.