Tag: Right to Privacy
House Subcommittee Sends Follow-Up Questions After AI Hearing
After the February 2nd House hearing about AI and how best to address unauthorized use of a person's voice and likeness at the federal level, two members of the House Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet sent me (Prof. Rothman) additional written questions to answer for the record. Representative Issa's questions focused on...
Federal Right of Publicity Takes Center Stage in Senate Hearing on AI
On July 12th, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property held its second hearing about artificial intelligence (AI) and intellectual property, this one was to focus expressly on “copyright” law. Although copyright was mentioned many times during the almost two-hour session and written testimony considered whether the use of unlicensed training data was copyright...
Cardi B Wins Jury Verdict against Tattooed Plaintiff
On October 21st, in Brophy v. Almanzar, a jury sided with recording artist Cardi B (aka Belcalis Alamanzar) and rejected a lawsuit brought against her by Kevin Michael Brophy. The dispute arose out of the use of Brophy’s tattoo as a starting point for the cover art of Cardi B’s “career launching” 2016 mixtape Gangsta...
Louisiana’s Allen Toussaint Legacy Act Heads to Governor’s Desk
After several years of trying, the Allen Toussaint Legacy Act has now passed both chambers of the Louisiana legislature and was sent yesterday to the Governor for signature. The Act, SB426, is named after the famed New Orleans musician, songwriter, and producer, Allen Toussaint who died in 2015. The proposed law provides individuals with a...
Federal Circuit Holds Bar on Registering “Trump Too Small” Violates First Amendment
On Thursday, the Federal Circuit decided In re Elster and reversed the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (TTAB) rejection of a trademark application by Steve Elster to register “Trump Too Small” on t-shirts and other apparel. An example of the relevant merchandise can be seen here. The examining attorney for the Patent and Trademark Office...
Third Circuit Holds that Newscaster’s Right of Publicity Claim can Proceed against Facebook
The Third Circuit in a 2-to-1 decision in Hepp v. Facebook has parted ways with the Ninth Circuit by holding that the Communications Decency Act § 230 (CDA § 230) allows right of publicity claims. This reversal of the district court allows the plaintiff Karen Hepp’s lawsuit to proceed against Facebook. The case involves a...
Toddlers’ Lawsuit Against Trump Tossed in Test of New York’s Expanded anti-SLAPP Law
On July 9th, a New York trial court dismissed the high-profile lawsuit against Trump, Trump for President, Inc. (“TFP), and Lance Cook brought by the parents of two toddlers whose embrace was transformed from a meme of racial harmony into an edited video suggesting one of them was a “racist baby.” The parents of the two-year olds...
Win for Free Speech and Docudramas in New York
Last week a New York appellate court granted the defendant’s summary judgment motion in Porco v. Lifetime Entertainment Services, the long-running dispute over Lifetime’s ripped-from-the-headlines docudrama Romeo Killer: The Chris Porco Story, which first aired in 2013. This decision reverses the trial’s court’s alarming rejection of the defendant's summary judgment motion on the basis that...
New York Governor Signs New Postmortem Right of Publicity Bill
On November 30th, 2020, the Governor of New York signed into law a new postmortem provision which for the first time will add a postmortem right to the state's law, lasting 40 years after death. This new law also addresses the unlawful dissemination and publication of "sexually explicit depictions," and adds a digital replica right...
The Third Circuit Upholds First Amendment Defense in Video Game Case
In a nonprecedential opinion the Third Circuit held that the First Amendment insulates the makers of the video game Gears of War from a right of publicity claim. The case, Hamilton v. Speight, involves a right of publicity claim brought by the plaintiff, Lenwood Hamilton, who alleged that his identity was used for one of...