News & Commentary

In final hours, New York Makes Last Minute Changes to Right of Publicity Bill

June 18, 2019 10:30 am PT

Apparently dropping around midnight Sunday, the New York legislature made a set of last-minute changes to the proposed right of publicity bill. The amendments focused solely on addressing broadcasters' concerns that remasters of existing works would violate the newly proposed "digital replica...

Letters and Statements of Opposition Filed Against Proposed New York Right of Publicity Bills

June 13, 2019 10:15 am PT

right of publicity right of privacy new york legislation new york seal

I sent a letter to members of the New York legislature and their staff today opposing the proposed right of publicity bills that have been introduced in the Senate and Assembly. I focus on four major concerns with the legislation: 1) the proposed redefinitions of the right of privacy and right...

New York Assembly Revises Right of Publicity Bill to Match Flawed Senate Version

June 6, 2019 5:00 pm PT

new york assembly right of publicity privacy legislation

Today, the New York Assembly introduced an amended version of its proposed right of publicity bill. It is virtually identical (with only minor changes) to the senate bill introduced a few weeks ago, and contains no improvements or fixes from the highly flawed senate bill. This amended version...

New York Reintroduces Right of Publicity Bill with Dueling Versions

May 22, 2019 6:00 pm PT

New York state right of publicity and right of privacy bills senate assembly legislaiton

Last week the New York Senate introduced a substantially revised version of a right of publicity bill, S5959. There are many promising improvements in this draft from the earlier assembly version (reintroduced in February), but also a lot of concerns raised by the draft. I am told that the...

U. S. Copyright Office Considers a Federal Right of Publicity

May 2, 2019 9:30 am PT

copyright office right of publicity privacy moral rights report seal

In a report issued on April 23rd by the Register of Copyrights, the U.S. Copyright Office suggests that the lack of uniformity in state right of publicity laws may require Congressional intervention. The call for Congress to consider such a right arose in the course of a 107-page report issued by...

Olivia de Havilland's Cert. Petition Denied by U.S. Supreme Court

January 7, 2019 5:00 pm PT

Today, the United States Supreme Court denied review of the California Court of Appeal decision in De Havilland v. FX Networks. This leaves in place the California appellate court's strong decision holding that the First Amendment bars the right of publicity and false light claims de...

Emotional Distress Award Affirmed for Model in California

November 30, 2018 2:15 pm PT

john olive GNC right of publicity lawsuit

The California Court of Appeal affirmed a more than $1 million jury award for a model and actor in a right of publicity lawsuit against GNC (General Nutrition Centers). The actor and model Jason Olive sued when GNC used his likeness in an advertising campaign after its right to do so expired. Olive...

Seventh Circuit Dismisses Athletes' Case in Fantasy Sports Suit

November 30, 2018 11:30 am PT

seventh circuit court of appeals right of publicity fantasy sports fanduel daniels

Yesterday, the Seventh Circuit ended the Daniels v. Fanduel case. Several former college athletes had sued over the use of their names, images, and statistics in online fantasy sports games―in particular uses by FanDuel and DraftKing. The plaintiffs alleged that the uses violated their...

FanDuel Wins Again as Uses of Athletes in Fantasy Sports Held Newsworthy

October 26, 2018 3:15 pm PT

daniels fanduel right of publicity indiana newsworthy first amendment

This week the Indiana Supreme Court held in Daniels v. FanDuel that uses of players’ names, pictures, and statistics in online fantasy sports games and related advertisements are of “newsworthy value.” Accordingly, the uses are not actionable under Indiana’s right of publicity statute...

Who Owns You When You are Dead

October 18, 2018 12:00 pm PT

jennifer rothman right of publicity USPTO nationla trademark exposition panel postmortem right of publicity kareem abdul-jabbar

The video has finally been posted from my July talk about postmortem rights of publicity for the USPTO’s National Trademark Exposition held at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. My talk is followed by comments by a former IRS examiner and tax attorney, and a panel discussion with basketball legend...

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The Book

THE RIGHT OF PUBLICITY: Privacy Reimagined for a Public World

This book from Harvard University Press by Professor Jennifer Rothman traces the history and development of the right of publicity and its current collision course with individual liberty, free speech and copyright law.

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