Tag: First Amendment
Letters and Statements of Opposition Filed Against Proposed New York Right of Publicity Bills
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 of publicity, (2) the creation...
U. S. Copyright Office Considers a Federal Right of Publicity
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 the office on the...
Olivia de Havilland’s Cert. Petition Denied by U.S. Supreme Court
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 Havilland brought aganst FX arising out of the use of...
Seventh Circuit Dismisses Athletes’ Case in Fantasy Sports Suit
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 right of publicity under Indiana law. The district court had rejected...
FanDuel Wins Again as Uses of Athletes in Fantasy Sports Held Newsworthy
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 which expressly exempts such matter from liability. Daniels involves a lawsuit brought...
Court Allows Players’ Case Against Madden Video Game to Proceed
The summer did not end well for Electronic Arts (EA), as a district court rejected its summary judgment motion in Davis v. Electronic Arts, allowing the right of publicity claims under California's common law to proceed. The claims arise out of the alleged use of real NFL players' identities as avatars in the Madden NFL...
New York Legislature Deluged with Letters Opposing Right Of Publicity Bill
Dozens of letters opposing the recently reintroduced and amended version of a right of publicity bill in New York have already been submitted to members of the New York legislature. Letters so far include ones by: The Media Coalition, New York State Broadcasters Association, Association of Magazine Media, Getty Images, Shutterstock, Motion Picture Association of...
New York Right of Publicity Bill Resurrected Again
Once again as the New York legislature nears the end of its term for the year, the Assembly is trying to push through an ill-thought-out right of publicity bill without allowing for hearings and public debate on the bill. An amended version of the bill was introduced yesterday. The amended version suffers from most of...
The Threat Posed to History & Storytellers
In this final guest post, "Real People, Real History, Real Problems," on The Volokh Conspiracy about issues raised in my book, I consider the danger that the right of publicity will block or substantially limit depictions of real people. The expansion of the right of publicity's scope over the last few decades, combined with an...
The Topsy-Turvy Market in Dead People
My post today on The Volokh Conspiracy considers "The Market in Dead People," and the "ghoulish futures market in aging celebrities." Read it in full here: https://reason.com/volokh/2018/05/10/the-market-in-dead-people This is the fourth of five installments of issues raised by my book, The Right of Publicity: Privacy Reimagined for a Public World.