International fans support Messi to sue Jack J97

After 2 years, the incident of singer Trinh Tran Phuong Tuan (stage name Jack, commonly known as J97) "borrowing" Lionel Messi's image in a MV suddenly "heated up" again.

Image of Messi in Jack J97's clip - Photo: SCREENSHOT

The truth about Messi suing Jack J97

Around mid-2023, singer Jack (J97) released the MV "From Where I Was Born" with a scene featuring Lionel Messi. This brief scene lasted about 4 seconds at minute 2:29, reflecting the scene where Jack J97 met, greeted and hugged Messi in France.

Jack J97 confirmed that this clip was used with the consent of Messi's representative, only for the purpose of recording personal moments, not for commercial, political or national purposes.

However, the online community and domestic media doubt the origin of the clip. Was it really licensed or did Jack J97 just “arbitrarily” use it?

In fact, Jack did meet Messi privately, in a personal meeting that may have stemmed from a commercial deal. But using the image of the number one superstar in football for a music video is a completely different story.

This incident created controversy for a long time, but then quietly "sank" when Messi's side kept silent for the past 2 years.

But then recently, social networks suddenly spread information that Messi's legal team is suing Jack J97 for using his image without permission.

This information has not yet been verified by reputable sources, as well as Messi himself. It is also possible that this is just a rumor after a recent social media post.

Fanpage Troll Football (with nearly 300,000 followers) suddenly posted a picture of Jack J97 meeting Messi with the caption: "This is Jack J97, a Vietnamese singer who paid to meet Messi for 5 minutes, then used Messi's image in a music video without permission."

Immediately, this post had thousands of comments from international fans and Vietnamese fans.

Many international fans, upon hearing the general story, voiced their support for Messi suing Jack J97 if the singer really violated copyright. It is worth mentioning that many Vietnamese people also... support this opinion.

Precedents in sports

If true, this would not be the first time soccer stars have sued for unauthorized use of their images. Here are some notable precedents:

Edgar Davids v. Riot Games (2017)

The former Dutch footballer has sued the developer of the game League of Legends, claiming that the character “Lucian Striker skin” was created too similar to him without permission.

The Dutch court ruled that Davids won the case, and Riot must pay compensation based on profits.

Leandro Fahel Matos v. Konami (Brazil, 2018)

Footballer Fahel refused to allow the use of his image in the game “Pro Evolution Soccer”. The São Paulo court affirmed: the use of personal images without consent in commercial activities is a violation of fundamental rights, issued a retroactive judgment.

Ed O'Bannon sues NCAA and EA Sports (USA, 2009 – 2016)

Former UCLA star sues NCAA and Electronic Arts for using college athletes' likenesses in video games without compensation.

EA eventually agreed to a $40 million settlement, and the lawsuit paved the way for a policy on commercial images at American universities.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/fan-quoc-te-ung-ho-messi-kien-jack-j97-20250629112049672.htm