Celebrity “news” programs seem to fill the channels on our televisions at
all times of the day.  Magazine racks are weighted down with the latest
celebrity gossip.  Companies regularly hire celebrity spokespersons to
“hawk their wares” in infomercials and advertisements.  Is it any wonder that
these celebrities are determined to control the use of their images? In
many cases, these individuals make a substantial amount of money (sometimes
exceeding their income from “real” jobs) endorsing products, venues or
services – in essence, trading on their celebrity status.

The laws that protect individuals from the unauthorized use of their images
or likenesses differ from state to state in the U.S., and include copyright
law, trademark law and the right of publicity or personality rights (a
subset of privacy rights).  By the broadest definition, the right of
publicity is the right of every individual to control any commercial use of
his or her name, image, likeness, or some other identifying aspect of
identity, limited (under U.S. law) by the First Amendment. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Personality Rights, Trademarks
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