Such claims are already becoming commonplace in the US, where golfing sensation Tiger Woods is currently in dispute with advertisers about similar infringements. Here in the UK in March, Formula 1 driver Eddie Irvine, who drives for the Jaguar team, won a case against radio station talkSPORT, which had used his image in an ad without his permission.
The ads, which carried the Guinness "Believe" tagline, ran as a national press campaign during the tournament and featured pictures of the former England cricketer at his best during the 1981 test against Australia.
The ads quoted BBC commentator and former Yorkshire cricket star Fred Trueman as saying: "He couldn't bowl a hoop downhill". In the 1981 test, Botham crushed the Australians with devastating bowling and batting.
Naynesh Dasai, Botham's solicitor, told the Daily Telegraph: "The advertisement suggests that Ian is endorsing the Guinness product when he's not doing any such thing. This is a clear breach of his image rights."
According to a spokesman for Guinness: "There has been correspondence with Ian Botham's lawyers. We ran the ads during the World Cup campaign and they're not running now."
Until recently, images of famous sporting moments were largely viewed as public property -- in Europe, at least -- but cases like Botham's are likely to change all of that.
Control over sporting image rights is becoming an increasingly hot issue. Major sports stars of today are now negotiating for control of their own images when signing new contracts. Notable among these this year has been David Beckham, who won control of his image from Manchester United.
Botham recently appeared in a TV advertising campaign as part of the campaign to save the pound. He is part of the Sport Against the Euro group led by former Olympic champion and Conservative MP Sebastian Coe, who now sits in the House of Lords.
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