An athlete’s or entertainer’s name, image, likeness, and persona are among their most valuable commercial assets, and the legal framework governing how those assets can be used, licensed, and protected is more complex than most clients realize. Endorsement agreements, licensing deals, merchandise contracts, and digital platform terms all contain provisions that affect an individual’s control over their own identity, and the consequences of poorly understood rights transfers can persist long after a career ends.
Image rights and personality rights issues arise in a variety of contexts: a brand that uses a client’s likeness without proper authorization; an agreement that transfers broader rights than the client understood; a platform that monetizes a client’s persona in ways the client did not anticipate; or a former employer or manager who claims continuing rights to use the client’s image after the commercial relationship has ended. Each of these situations requires careful legal analysis of the agreements involved and the applicable legal framework.
Keystone Legal advises Alberta athletes, entertainers, and public figures on image and personality rights across the full range of situations in which those rights are engaged. The firm reviews agreements for provisions that affect rights ownership and control, advises on the scope of existing licenses and their enforceability, and where rights have been improperly used, advises on the available remedies including cease and desist demands and, where appropriate, litigation.
Alberta image and personality rights clients engage Keystone Legal through a fully virtual process. The firm attends the Calgary Courts Centre for contested proceedings and provides strategic legal counsel across the province by secure video with flexible scheduling.
Our Services
- Image rights license review and advisory
- Likeness and persona rights analysis
- Unauthorized use identification and remedy advisory
- Post-career image rights protection
- Digital platform rights review
- Merchandising and brand licensing advisory
- Contested image rights proceedings
