Tag: Right of Publicity
New York Trial Court Allows Right of Publicity Case to Proceed Against TV Docudrama
Once again a New York court has allowed Christopher Porco (hereinafter “Chris”) and his mother, Joan Porco, to proceed with their right of publicity claims brought under New York Civil Rights Law § 51 arising out of a Lifetime docudrama. Chris and Joan object to the use of their names and identitites in the film...
California Passes Law to Allow Student Athletes to Commercialize Their Identities
Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law SB206 which requires NCAA member universities to allow student athletes to sign endorsement deals and with agents and attorneys without losing their amateur status. Other states are following California's lead and introducing similar bills, and Congress has introduced a bill in the House along similar lines. I recently published...
Ariana Grande Sues Forever 21 over Social Media Posts
Last week pop sensation Ariana Grande filed a lawsuit against Forever 21 for violation of both her statutory and common law right of publicity under California law, as well as for trademark infringement and false endorsement under the Lanham Act, and a copyright infringement claim. The claims arise out of the use of Grande's identity...
New York Legislative Session Ends With No Vote on Right of Publicity Bill
The New York legislature closed its session without taking up the proposed right of publicity and privacy bill.
In final hours, New York Makes Last Minute Changes to Right of Publicity Bill
Apparently dropping around midnight Sunday, the New York legislature made a set of last-minute changes to the proposed right of publicity bill. The amendments focused solely on addressing broadcasters' concerns that remasters of existing works would violate the newly proposed "digital replica" right. Such remastering is now excluded from the provision. This change does nothing...
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...
New York Assembly Revises Right of Publicity Bill to Match Flawed Senate Version
Today, the New York Assembly introduced an amended version of its proposed right of publicity bill. It is virtually identical (with only minor changes) to the senate bill introduced a few weeks ago, and contains no improvements or fixes from the highly flawed senate bill. This amended version unfortunately shares the chaos, confusion, and problems...
New York Reintroduces Right of Publicity Bill with Dueling Versions
Last week the New York Senate introduced a substantially revised version of a right of publicity bill, S5959. There are many promising improvements in this draft from the earlier assembly version (reintroduced in February), but also a lot of concerns raised by the draft. I am told that the Assembly will be introducing a different...
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...