FIDUCIE, PERSONAL DATA AND IMAGE RIGHTS
Why entrust your image rights and your data to a fiducie ?
Each year, we are approached by ever more sportspeople and private individuals wishing to transfer their image rights and the ownership of their personal data into a fiducie (the French-law fiducie).
The idea is simple: to entrust the protection of one’s image, reputation and personal data to an avocat specialising in intellectual property and neighbouring rights.
The solution indeed brings several significant advantages:
· First, the identification and exploitation of the image and of the personal data is shared between the Settlor (artist / sportsperson / company director / private individual …) and the law firm. Two sets of eyes are better than one.
· Next, the income arising from the exploitation of this intellectual property no longer falls directly into the Settlor’s wealth but into the fiducie. This results in a significant reduction of the taxable base, depending on how the fiducie is structured in legal terms.
· Lastly, the protection against, and the detection of, infringements of image rights and personal data is shared between the fiduciary avocat and the Settlor, in order best to defend and to obtain compensation for all losses suffered. Here again, the costs of the proceedings are borne by the fiducie, which accordingly will also receive the damages awarded to it and may then distribute them, as elected, between the Settlor(s) and/or the Beneficiary(ies).
Enhanced protection of your rights
This solution therefore affords enhanced protection and effectiveness of the Settlor’s intellectual property rights transferred into the fiducie (the French-law fiducie), while ensuring that the best advice is available in all circumstances for action in each field, since the choice of the litigation avocats instructed will be made by the Fiduciaire who, being an avocat himself, is far better placed to identify the most highly regarded and most competent colleagues in each branch of the law, while being able to monitor and verify their work better than any layperson.
Separating your image from the protection of your image in order to reduce your media risk
The concrete benefits for your image and your wealth
Transferring one’s intellectual property rights into a fiducie (the French-law fiducie) therefore allows better optimisation and effectiveness of those rights, as well as a better articulation of media coverage and public image, since it makes it possible to distinguish the actions of the Fiduciaire from the personal reputation of the artist, sportsperson, politician or business owner concerned, who is often exposed in the media and/or politically.
Frequently asked questions on the fiducie (the French-law fiducie), personal data and image rights
Can personal data be protected with a fiducie?
Yes. The fiducie makes it possible to entrust a Fiduciaire with the management and exploitation of the proprietary rights attached to personal data and image, in particular for public figures wishing to control the commercial use of their identity.
Can image rights be placed in a fiducie?
The proprietary attributes of image rights (commercial exploitation) may be contributed to a fiducie and managed by a Fiduciaire, whereas the non-proprietary attributes, attached to the person, remain inalienable.
Why would a publicly exposed figure have an interest in a fiducie?
A person in the public eye or politically exposed can, through the fiducie, centralise the management of their image, frame its exploitation, reduce their media risk and organise the transmission of those rights confidentially.
Does the fiducie guarantee confidentiality?
The fiducie offers a discreet framework: the Fiduciaire acts on behalf of the Settlor without necessarily disclosing the Settlor’s identity to third parties, which strengthens the confidentiality of the management of data and image.
How is such a fiducie set up?
The exploitable proprietary rights must be identified, the Fiduciaire’s mission defined and a tailor-made contract drafted with an avocat acting as Fiduciaire, in compliance with the GDPR and with the rules protecting personality rights.
The House of Harlington since
2006