News & Commentary

L.A. Times Op-Ed: What Does Olivia de Havilland Have Against Allison Janney?

March 1, 2018 11:00 am PT

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My op-ed on the Olivia de Havilland v. FX Networks lawsuit, currently on appeal in California, has been published by the Los Angeles Times and will appear in Sunday's print edition just in time for this year's Oscar's ceremony. If de Havilland succeeds, movies that tell unuathorized stories...

“Simpsonized” Animated Character Held Transformative

February 15, 2018 12:00 pm PT

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Earlier this week, the California Court of Appeal gave a Valentine’s Day present to Twentieth Century Fox, by throwing out a right of publicity lawsuit brought by Frank Sivero. Sivero, a film actor, best known for his work playing mafiosos, objected to a recurring character in the animated...

Thelonious Monk Estate Survives Motion to Dismiss by Brewery

February 1, 2018 4:00 pm PT

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Yesterday, a federal district court in California rejected North Coast Brewing Co's motion to dismiss the right of publicity and false endorsement claims brought by the estate of Thelonious Monk. The estate objects to the company's use of jazz legend Monk's name and likeness on its Brother...

Briefs Rain Down on California Court of Appeal in De Havilland Case

January 26, 2018 1:15 pm PT

MPAA SAG IDA and others amicus briefs de havilland right of publicity lawsuit

At least five separate amicus briefs have been filed in the expedited appeal in Olivia de Havilland v. FX Networks. I filed an amicus in this case with a number of other law professors in support of FX Networks. We argue that the First Amendment protects the use of real people,...

Law Professors Call for Reversal in De Havilland and the Protection of Biographies and Biographical Films

January 25, 2018 1:30 pm PT

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Yesterday, I filed a brief co-authored with Rebecca Tushnet and Eugene Volokh asking the California Court of Appeal to reverse the trial court’s decision in De Havilland v. FX Networks as to the right of publicity claim. The case, first filed at the end of June last year, involves a...

Fox Moves for a TKO in Lawsuit Brought by Muhammad Ali Estate

January 18, 2018 1:45 pm PT

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Earlier this week Fox filed motions for judgment on the pleadings and an Anti-SLAPP motion to strike in the case brought last fall against it for airing a tribute to the recently deceased boxing great Muhammad Ali before its broadcast of the 2017 Superbowl. I previously expressed the view that the...

Whitney Houston Estate Settles with IRS over Right of Publicity Valuation

January 5, 2018 2:00 pm PT

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The Whitney Houston estate and the IRS have settled their dispute over the value of the Grammy award-winner’s estate. The more than $11 million dollar disagreement in the amount of taxes owed centered on the valuation of Houston’s intellectual property rights, and particularly the value of her...

Amazon Beats Right of Publicity Claim for Use of Photograph on Book Cover

November 29, 2017 11:15 am PT

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Last week the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Roe v. Amazon held that booksellers Amazon.com, and Barnes & Noble (among others) could not be held liable for violating the privacy and publicity rights of a couple whose image was used without permission on the cover of an erotic novel...

Company that Owns Muhammad Ali sues Fox over Tribute to Late Boxer

October 10, 2017 3:15 pm PT

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The company that owns and manages former boxing great Muhammad Ali's right of publicity and trademarks has sued Fox Broadcasting in federal district court in Illinois. The complaint filed today claims that Fox's broadcast of a memorial to Muhammad Ali leading up to the broadcast of the 2017 Super...

Major Victory for Fantasy Sports against College Athletes

October 6, 2017 4:00 pm PT

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Last week while a California trial court let the right of publicity run roughshod over the First Amendment in a case involving a docudrama, an Indiana district court in Daniels v. Fanduel rejected the right of publicity claims brought by former NCAA football players, Akeem Daniels, Cameron...

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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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