
In 1905, Georgia became the first state to recognize a common law right of privacy, including the appropriation branch of that tort. It also recognizes a common law right of publicity.
NO
Does the law require the plaintiff or identity-holder to be a celebrity or have a commercially valuable identity?
YES and NO
Georgia courts sometimes have suggested that an identity-holder needs a commercially valuable identity to bring a claim and noted that the right of publicity is reserved for public figures or celebrities. Even if a commercial value is required, the person need not have exploited that value to bring a claim. The appropriation claim does not require that a person have a commercially valuable identity.
Bullard v. MRA Holding, LLC, 740 S.E.2d 622 (Ga. 2013)
Martin Luther King, Jr., Ctr. for Soc. Change v. Am. Heritage Prods., 296 S.E.2d 697 (Ga. 1982)
Pavesich v. New England Life Ins. Co., 50 S.E. 68 (Ga. 1905)
Pierson v. News Group Publications, Inc., 549 F. Supp. 635 (S.D. Ga. 1982)
Does the law protect persona?
UNCLEAR
Georgia cases consistently refer to “name and likeness,” but one state appellate court has broadened this out to include “identity, picture, papers, name or signature.” One recent decision by an appellate court suggests that the use of a trade name may give rise to a right of publicity claim. This same appellate court also endorsed decisions from other jurisdictions that have allowed broad claims based on uses of an individual’s persona.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Ctr. for Soc. Change v. Am. Heritage Prods., 296 S.E.2d 697 (Ga. 1982)
Shiho Seki v. Groupon, Inc., 333 Ga. App. 319 (Ga. Ct. App. 2015)
Whisper Wear, Inc. v. Morgan, 627 S.E.2d 178 (Ga. Ct. App. 2006)
Is Liability Limited to Uses on Commercial Advertising or Commercial Speech?
NO
The use must be for some sort of “financial gain,” but need not be in advertising or commercial speech. Claims have been allowed in the context of a bust of a civil rights leader, postcards, and magazines.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Ctr. for Soc. Change v. Am. Heritage Prods., 296 S.E.2d 697 (Ga. 1982)
McQueen v. Wilson, 161 S.E.2d 63, rev’d on other grounds, 162 S.E.2d 313 (Ga. Ct. App. 1968)
Pavesich v. New England Life Ins. Co., 50 S.E. 68 (Ga. 1905)
Toffoloni v. LFP Pub. Grp., LLC,572 F.3d 1201 (11th Cir. 2009)
A federal district court has held that Georgia’s right of publicity is preempted by copyright law, at least when the plaintiff’s claim is based on the use of his image in a copyrighted recording.
Somerson v. McMahon, 956 F.Supp.2d 1345 (N.D. Ga. 2012)