2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 59 - Education › Chapter 158 - Intercollegiate Athletes' Compensation For Name, Image, Or Likeness › Section 59-158-20. Compensation for use of intercollegiate athlete's name, image, or likeness; limitations; exceptions.

(A)(1) An intercollegiate athlete at an institution of higher learning may earn compensation for the use of his name, image, or likeness as provided for in this chapter.
(2) Compensation earned by an intercollegiate athlete for the use of his name, image, or likeness must represent a genuine payment for the use of his name, image, or likeness, independent of, rather than as a payment for, his athletic participation or performance. Compensation may only be provided by a third party.
(3) Compensation may not be provided in exchange for an intercollegiate athlete's athletic performance or attendance at a particular institution of higher learning and may only be provided by a third party unaffiliated with the intercollegiate athlete's institution of higher learning.
(4) A name, image, or likeness contract in conflict with the provisions of this chapter is voidable.
(B) An intercollegiate athlete may receive compensation only for the use of his name, image, or likeness for third-party endorsements, the intercollegiate athlete's non-athletic work product, or activities related to a business that the intercollegiate athlete owns.
(C) An institution of higher learning or its athletic conference cannot directly or indirectly create or facilitate compensation opportunities for the use of an intercollegiate athlete's name, image, or likeness.
(D) An institution of higher learning may not use or allow boosters to directly or indirectly create or facilitate compensation opportunities for the use of an intercollegiate athlete's name, image, or likeness as a recruiting inducement or as a means of paying for athletics participation.
(E) An intercollegiate athlete at an institution of higher learning may not use the institution of higher learning's facilities, uniforms provided by the institution of higher learning, or the institution of higher learning's intellectual property, including, but not limited to, the unauthorized use of a registered trademark or product protected by copyright, in connection with the use of the intercollegiate athlete's name, image, or likeness activities.
(F) Activities related to an intercollegiate athlete's use of his name, image, or likeness for compensation are prohibited from taking place during the intercollegiate athlete's participation in academic, athletic, or team-mandated activities as defined by the institution of higher learning.
(G) Activities related to an intercollegiate athlete's use of his name, image, or likeness for compensation cannot be contingent on a prospective intercollegiate athlete's enrollment at a particular institution of higher learning or its athletic conference and cannot otherwise be used as an inducement by an institution of higher learning or a booster.
(H) An institution of higher learning; an entity with a purpose that includes supporting or benefiting an institution of higher learning or its athletic programs; or an officer, director, or employee of an institution of higher learning or such an entity may not directly or indirectly compensate a current or prospective intercollegiate athlete for the use of the intercollegiate athlete's name, image, or likeness.
(I) A grant in aid, including the cost of attendance, awarded to an intercollegiate athlete by an institution of higher learning is not compensation for the purposes of this chapter and may not be revoked or reduced as a result of an intercollegiate athlete earning compensation or obtaining professional representation under this chapter. Name, image, or likeness compensation shall not be used to limit athletic grant in aid but may be used in the calculation for need-based financial aid available to the general student population.
HISTORY: 2021 Act No. 35 (S.685), Section 1, eff July 1, 2021.
Editor's Note
2021 Act No. 35, Section 7, provides as follows:
"SECTION 7. This act takes effect for each institution of higher learning in this State upon the earlier of July 1, 2022, or certification by the Attorney General to the Governor of the enactment of rules consistent with the provisions contained in this act by the institution of higher learning's collegiate governing body [July 1, 2021]. Upon certification by the Attorney General, the provisions of this act are suspended until the General Assembly takes further action."