![\"Why](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/mads-pedersen-01770.jpg\")
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Members Only<\/p>\n
A Danish court is deciding whether a streaming service can use athletes’ faces to sell subscriptions. The answer could change how cycling is marketed.<\/p>\n
We can use this photo. Can HBO?<\/p>\n
![\"Caley](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1793159412_189_CF_PROFILE-150x150.png\")
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Kristof Ramon<\/p>\n
When it comes to publishing an athlete\u2019s likeness, what exactly is editorial, anyway?<\/p>\n
That question is at the center of a lawsuit filed with the Maritime and Commercial High Court in Copenhagen by five professional cyclists, plus seven athletes from outside cycling, claiming that HBO used their images to advertise its coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics without their consent or payment. The athletes are demanding DKK 50,000 (about \u20ac6,700) for each use of their likeness across a range of locations, including HBO Max\u2019s website, Facebook and Instagram pages, plus banner ads and a billboard in central Copenhagen.<\/p>\n
HBO, as the Olympic rights-holder, has certain rights to use athletes\u2019 images in its coverage. But did it go too far? When does promoting your coverage of an athlete become using that athlete to sell something?<\/p>\n
OK, so what happened?<\/p>\n
HBO Max, via HBO Nordic, held the rights to stream the Paris Olympics in Denmark. As the Olympics approached, the company set about increasing its subscriber base by promoting the Games. It ran a campaign featuring the country\u2019s biggest sporting names, including Pedersen and the rest of the cyclists.<\/p>\n
According to the athletes featured in that campaign, they were not asked prior to the use of their likenesses, nor were they paid for it.<\/p>\n
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