Tag: New York
DJ Khaled Sues Over Use of His Son’s Name
Last week Khaled M. Khaled, known popularly as DJ Khaled, and the company ATK Entertainment filed a lawsuit objecting to the alleged uses of his son’s name by a clothing company. The complaint (as resubmitted yesterday) alleges violations of trademark law, right of publicity and privacy laws (under N.Y. Civil Rights Law §§50-51), and state...
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...
Lohan Loses Yet Another Right of Publicity Claim
The actor Lindsay Lohan continued her losing streak with another right of publicity lawsuit being tossed out. Last week the New York Court of Appeals in Lohan v. Take-Two Interactive Software, put to bed her claim against the makers of the video game Grand Theft Auto V (GTAV). Lohan had claimed that the video game...
Jazz Great Thelonious Monk’s Heir Objects to Brother Thelonious Beer
Earlier this week, Thelonious Monk, Jr. filed a lawsuit against North Coast Brewing Co. in the federal district court of California for allegedly using his father, the great jazz musician Thelonious Monk’s name, likeness, and image on its beer labels, for its brand name, and in advertising and marketing the ale without permission. The complaint...
New York Legislature Feels the Heat and Pulls Right of Publicity Bill
Feeling the heat from many different sides, the New York legislature today smartly pulled the seriously flawed right of publicity bill (with the SAG-AFTRA provision that undermined the statutory speech protections). As Professors Christopher Sprigman, Christopher Buccafusco, and I wrote in an editorial in the Albany Times-Union, the proposed bills posed a serious threat to...
New York Legislature Amends Right of Publicity Bill for the Worse
Today the New York Legislature amended its proposed right of publicity bill, A08155, and not for the better. Instead, it added language that undermines statutory protections for expressive works. The bill is deeply flawed to begin with and this only makes matters worse--far worse. The amendment would deny a defense to the use of a...
Letters Submitted in Opposition to Proposed New York Right of Publicity Bill
Today, I submitted a letter opposing the current draft of a "right of publicity" bill being rushed through the New York legislature before it closes up shop for the summer. Since my earlier post about the bill SAG-AFTRA has proposed adding language that would eviscerate the exemptions in the bill making it even more urgent...
New York Once Again Floats Right of Publicity Law
The New York Assembly introduced yet another right of publicity bill last week, Assembly Bill A08155. Such legislation is introduced almost every year in New York―focused on trying to add a post-mortem right which currently does not exist under New York law. Thus far, these bills have all failed to proceed. This time may be...
Warhol Foundation Claims Fair Use of Photographs of Dead Pop Star Prince
Oh, how the chickens come home to roost. In Comedy III v. Saderup, Inc., the California Supreme Court distinguished Andy Warhol’s celebrity portraits from those of Gary Saderup’s realistic portraits of The Three Stooges. Now this unconvincing and unpredictable distinction between Warhol’s celebrity portraits and those by other less famous, and more “realistic” artists is...