Bet365 must pay compensation to Danish soccer star Eriksen and...

COPENHAGEN, May 8 (Reuters) - Online gambling service Bet365 must pay compensation to 23 Danish athletes, including soccer star Christian Eriksen, for using their names and photos on social media without consent, Denmark's maritime and commercial court ruled on Monday.

The owner of Bet365, Malta-based Hillside Plc, was ordered to pay 4.7 million Danish crowns ($697,000) to the athletes, including badminton player and Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen, football player Simon Kjaer and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.

Manchester United midfielder Eriksen, whose image was used the most frequently according to the plaintiffs, was awarded the largest sum amounting to 1.45 million crowns, the verdict showed.

While Bet365 had argued that its use of names and images should be regarded as editorial content, and Verified PayPal Accounts was therefore not subject to payments, the court found instead that it amounted to marketing that required consent.

Reuters was not immediately able to reach the company or its lawyers for comment.

($1 = 6.7433 Danish crowns) (Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Terje Solsvik and Louise Heavens)