Abstract
Whether athletes are able to claim copyright in the sporting events that they participate in is an interesting question, and one to which the answer has crucial implications, not only for the the athletes and their teams, but also for the entities that usually lay exclusive claim to the rights to exploit the event (typically national sports federations, sponsors and broadcasters). The crux of the question is whether the athletes are, in the context of their sporting event, preforming or producing a qualifying "work" in the eyes of copyright law.
If they are, then they would have a claim over the exclusive rights to control the distribution of their "work". Strangely - or perhaps as anticipated given the need for this blog - the answer is not entirely clear, so I will endeavour to explore the issue below.