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Full-Text Articles in Law
Intellectual Property’S Lessons For Information Privacy, Mark Bartholomew
Intellectual Property’S Lessons For Information Privacy, Mark Bartholomew
Journal Articles
There is an inherent tension between an individual’s desire to safeguard her personal information and the expressive rights of businesses seeking to communicate that information to others. This tension has multiplied as consumers generate and businesses collect more and more personal data online, forcing efforts to strike an appropriate balance between privacy and commercial speech. No consensus on this balance has been reached. Some privacy scholars bemoan what they see as a slanted playing field in favor of those wishing to profit from the private details of other people’s lives. Others contend that the right in free expression must always …
The Right Of Publicity And Autonomous Self-Definition, Mark P. Mckenna
The Right Of Publicity And Autonomous Self-Definition, Mark P. Mckenna
Journal Articles
Legal protection against unauthorized commercial uses of an individual's identity has grown significantly over the last fifty years as it has relentlessly pursued economic value. It was forced to focus on value because a false distinction between the harms suffered by private citizens and celebrities seemingly left celebrities without a privacy claim for commercial use of their identities. But the normative case for awarding individuals the economic value of their identity is weak, since celebrities do not need additional incentive to invest in either their native skill or in developing a persona. Still, while the prevailing justification is inadequate, as …
The Single Publication Rule: One Action Not One Law, Debra R. Cohen
The Single Publication Rule: One Action Not One Law, Debra R. Cohen
Journal Articles
Recovery in one action under one state's law for violation of the right of publicity-the right to control the commercial use of one's identity-arising out of multistate publication2 seems to be the trend of the nineties. When Samsung ran a nationwide print advertisement for VCRs depicting a robot dressed to resemble her, Vanna White sued for violation of her right of publicity.3 Under California law she recovered $403,000. 4 When a SalsaRio Doritos radio commercial imitating Tom Waits's distinctive raspy and gravelly voice aired nationwide, he sued Frito Lay for violation of his right of publicity.5 Under California law he …