Right of publicity and related laws protect against unauthorized uses of a person’s identity, including name, likeness, and voice. The boundaries of these claim vary widely from state to state, and from country to country. Use Rothman’s "Roadmap to the Right of Publicity" to see an overview of laws protecting an individual’s identity from being used by others without permission.

Right of Publicity State-by-State

Select a state or territory to learn more about its right of publicity laws.

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News & Analysis

Senate Holds Hearing on Ways to Improve Draft Digital Replica Bill
senate hearing no ai fakes right of publicity digital replica federal legislation
Yesterday, April 30, 2024, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property’s held a hearing on “The NO FAKES Act: Protecting Americans from Unauthorized Digital Replicas.” This was a follow-up to a prior Senate subcommittee hearing on AI which nominally focused on...
California Considers a Digital Replica Law for the Dead
california state house right of publicity digital replica for dead postmortem bill ai artificial intelligence
Joining the frenzy of states trying to address concerns over artificial intelligence (AI) and particularly concerns expressed by the recording industry, Assembly Member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan introduced a right of publicity bill in the California legislature, AB 1836, that would add a digital replica...
Tennessee Governor Signs ELVIS Act, Greatly Expanding State’s Publicity Statute
Bill Lee governor of tennessee signs right of publicity elvis act voice artificial intelligence
Yesterday, Governor Bill Lee signed into law the ELVIS Act which replaces the prior right of publicity statute in Tennessee.  It goes into effect on July 1st. I analyzed the new law in detail earlier this week. The law uncontroversially adds voice to...

About Jennifer E. Rothman

Jennifer E. Rothman

Jennifer E. Rothman is the Nicholas F. Gallicchio Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania.

 

 

The Book

Privacy Reimagined For A Public World

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.