Tag: Right of Publicity
Supreme Court Punts on O’Bannon v. NCAA
On Monday, the Supreme Court denied the petition for certiorari in O'Bannon v. NCAA, a Ninth Circuit decision from September 2015. The decision upheld the application of antitrust laws to the NCAA. The decision in O'Bannon rested in part on the conclusion that the use of the players' names and likenesses in videogames required licensing....
Student Athletes Lose Sixth Circuit Appeal in Marshall v. ESPN
Yesterday, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a short opinion affirming a Tennesse district court's dismissal of claims by student-athletes. Lead plaintiff Javon Marshall (pictured above), a Vanderbilt football player, and other college football and basketball players filed a class-action complaint alleging that television broadcasts of their games by the defendants, including by ESPN,...
The Hamster Case Continues as District Court Denies Hasbro’s Motion to Dismiss
A district court in New Jersey denied Hasbro's motion to dimiss Fox news reporter, Harris Faulkner's right of publicity claim. I wrote earlier about Faulkner's lawsuit against Hasbro for naming its hamster toy Harris Faulkner. The real-life Faulkner claims that the toy violates her right of publicity by using both her name and likeness, and...
Julia Child Foundation Sues Airbnb for Using Her Name
I finally got my hands on the complaint that was filed a few weeks ago by the Julia Child Foundation in California Superior Court. The Foundation holds the rights to Julia Child's "intellectual property rights, including all rights of publicity." Julia Child is, of course, the famous "cooking teacher, author and television personality" who wrote...
Professors File Brief Supporting Review of O’Bannon and Fixing Right of Publicity Mess
Last week I filed an amicus brief co-authored by Eugene Volokh and signed on to by 28 Constitutional Law and Intellectual Property Law professors supporting the petition for certiorari in O'Bannon, and in particular calling for guidance on the conflict between the First Amendment and the right of publicity. As I have written, O'Bannon v....
Celebrity Chef Sues to Cancel Contract Transferring His Right of Publicity
Celebrity chef Kent Rathbun has sued to invalidate an assignment of his rights to the use of his name and likeness. Rathbun, a former contestant on Iron Chef America and a four-time James Beard-Award nominated chef from Dallas, objects to an onerous contract he signed with H2R Restaurant Holdings and several other Texas businesses, including...
NCAA Petitions Supreme Court to Protect Uses of Athletes’ Names & Likenesses
Last week, the NCAA filed a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court in O'Bannon v. NCAA. The bulk of the petition seeks to overrule the Ninth Circuit's decision that the NCAA rules requiring amateurism violate the Sherman Act and antitrust law. Part of the petition also challenges the Ninth Circuit's "flawed intepretation of the...
Arkansas Resurrects Right of Publicity Bill
The Arkansas legislature has reintroduced a right of publicity bill in the state after last year's bill was vetoed by its governor. Governor Asa Hutchinson was concerned about the bill's limits on free speech. Arkansas to date has only recognized a common law right of privacy and the tort of appropriation, tracking the Restatement (Second)...
Prince’s Death Sends Minnesota Legislature into Overdrive
Yesterday, the Minnesota legislature introduced a rushed bill to protect a right of publicity in that state and particularly to extend post-mortem rights in that state. The bill came on the heels of the recent death on April 21st of the famous recording artist and composer Prince (aka Prince Rogers Nelson). Prince apparently died without...
Supreme Court Denies Review of Davis v. Electronic Arts
This morning the Supreme Court denied certiorari in Davis v. Electronic Arts, Inc. This case from the Ninth Circuit rejected a First Amendment defense to right of publicity claims when the videogame Madden NFL depicted professional football players without their permission. I and many other intellectual property and constitutional law scholars had called on the...