VICE magazine interviewed our Founding Partner Dani Oliva about the Jay-Z v. Mannion case and Jay-Z’s right of publicity. Jay-Z is currently suing a photographer named Jonathan Mannion concerning commercial use of Jay-Z’s image and name. Click here to read the full interview with Dani Oliva.
What Is The Right Of Publicity?
The Right of Publicity, sometimes referred to as Personality Rights, generally, protect people from the unauthorized commercial use of their name, voice, identity, and likeness. Currently, approximately 24 U.S. States recognize a right of publicity. Some countries do not recognize a right of publicity at all.
Do I have A Right Of Publicity?
In the State of California, yes. All people have a right of publicity, not just entertainers and celebrities.
What Does The Right Of Publicity Protect?
In the State of California, people have a Statutory Right of Publicity and a Common Law Right of Publicity. What does that mean? A statutory right is a right granted under state or federal statute, which is a law enacted by legislature or other government body. A common law is law created by legal precedents establish by courts. You can sue someone simultaneously for breaching your Statutory Right and Common Law Right of Publicity!
Statutory Right Of Publicity
California Statutory Right of Publicity is pursuant to Cal. Civ. Code § 3344, and protects unauthorized use of a person’s voice, signature, name, photograph and likeness. Concerning a photos, or photographs, the person must be “readily identifiable” meaning that a person can reasonably determine that the photo depicts you. “likeness”can refer to a drawing or even a robot if sufficiently detailed!
Common Law Right Of Publicity
The common law right of publicity protects a person’s identity, the appropriate of a person’s name or likeness to someone else’s advantage commercially or otherwise, and requires a lack of consent and resulting injury. Courts have interpreted “identity” to have a broad definition, covering more uses than the statutory right of publicity. The common law right is not limited to commercial uses of your identity, but the less commercial a use, the more that a First Amendment protection can come into play.
Go to the Hollywood Bowl and see someone selling a photo of you on a t-shirt? Do a modeling job then see yourself on a box of cereal and think, I didn’t authorize that!! Well, you may want to have a free consultation with us to get more information on the Right of Publicity!