Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Commons^™

Rights On Publicity As Remarkably Insignificant, R. George Wright

Cleveland State Law Review

This Article introduces the right of publicity through a brief consideration of high-profile cases involving, respectively, Paris Hilton, human cannonball Hugo Zacchini, and the famous actress Olivia de Havilland. With this background understanding, the Article considers the supposed risks to freedom of speech posed by recognizing rights of publicity in a private party. From there, the Article addresses the nagging concern that the publicity rights cases promote a harmful "celebrification" of culture. Finally, the Article considers whether allowing for meaningful damage recoveries in publicity rights cases appropriately compensates victims in ways promoting the broad public interest.

Straight Actors In Lgbt Roles: Creative Casting Or Employment Discrimination?, Erica Ruff

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note examines the trend of casting straight actors in LGBT roles, termed "gay face," and explores its implications as a form of employment discrimination. It argues that this practice limits opportunities for LGBT actors and discusses the legal challenges in addressing this issue under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which does not explicitly cover sexual orientation. The note highlights the tension between anti-discrimination laws and First Amendment protections for artistic expression, noting that courts often favor the latter.

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rwu First Amendement Blog: Jared Goldstein's Blog: The First Amendment And The Foxy Lady 01-08-2019, Jared A. Goldstein

Law School Blogs

No abstract provided.

Drawing Trump Naked: Curbing The Right Of Publicity To Protect Public Discourse, Thomas E. Kadri

Articles

From Donald Trump to Lindsay Lohan to Manuel Noriega, real people who are portrayed in expressive works are increasingly targeting creators of those works for allegedly violating their "right of publicity "-a state-law tort that prohibits the unauthorized use of a person's name, likeness, and other identifying characteristics. Intuitively, we might feel confident that Mark Zuckerberg should not be able to block his portrayal in The Social Network movie, that Marilyn Monroe could not have stopped Andy Warhol from exhibiting his vibrant paintings, that O.J. Simpson could not have demanded money from FX to air the American Crime Story docudrama. …

Did Five Supreme Court Justices Go "Completely Bonkers"?: Saul Goodman, Legal Advertising, And The First Amendment Since Bates V. State Bar Of Arizona, Eric T. Kasper, Troy A. Kozma

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

In Bates v. State Bar of Arizona (1977), the U.S. Supreme Court held for the first time that the First and Fourteenth Amendments' protection of the freedom of speech extends to truthful advertising of attorneys' services. The ruling set aside decades of ethics rules that had prohibited lawyers from engaging in this type of marketing that bar associations had deemed predatory and beneath the stature of the profession. Saul Goodman from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul is a pop culture representation of what legal advertising has become, both reflecting and shaping public perception of legal commercial publicity. But are …

Bad Actors And The Communications Decency Act Of 1996: Lessons Learned From Our Nation's Battle With Online Human Trafficking, Peter Polack

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Cyberbullying: Are You Protected? An Analysis And Guide To Effective And Constitutional Cyberbullying Protections, Mendel Forta

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Shared Value Over Fair Use: Technology, Added Value, And The Reinvention Of Copyright, Amy Whitaker

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

The protection of fair use in the arts has become an inflexible binary. Either artist Shepard Fairey has permission to use the Associated Press photograph of Barack Obama to create the Hope Poster, or he has stolen the image in violation of copyright. This legal framework is rigid, inaccurate, and creatively unsafe. Yet it is the interpretation, not the doctrine itself, that needs shifting. The copyright statute already includes an overlooked "value" test that can more accurately reflect collaboration and sampling in the digital age. And yet instead, some scholars have responded to digital copying by suggesting we throw out …

Changes In The Children's Television Marketplace, The Children's Television Act, And The First Amendment, Joel Timmer

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

Since the passage of the Children's Television Act of 1990, broadcast television stations have been required to provide educational programming for children as a condition for license renewal. Since 1996, broadcasters can fulfill this obligation by providing three hours of such programming according to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) guidelines. These requirements were later extended to broadcasters' multicast channels. With more children's programming available today than ever before from a wide variety of sources, and with changes in the ways children consume programming, the FCC has proposed to revise its rules to reflect these changes. This Article considers the constitutionality …

Applying The First Amendment To The Internal Revenue Code: Minnesota Voters Alliance And The Tax Law’S Regulation Of Nonprofit Organizations’ Political Speech, Edward A. Zelinsky

Articles

On its face, Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky is about which T-shirts, hats and buttons voters can wear at the polls. However, the U.S. Supreme Court’s First Amendment analysis in Minnesota Voters Alliance extends beyond apparel at polling places. That decision impacts the ongoing debate about the Johnson Amendment, the now controversial provision of the Internal Revenue Code which forbids Section 501(c)(3) organizations from intervening in political campaigns. Minnesota Voters Alliance also affects the proper construction of Section 501(c)(3)’s ban on lobbying by tax-exempt entities as well as other provisions of the tax law taxing and precluding campaign intervention by …

Long-Term Preservation Of Public Art: From Cultural Heritage To The Confederacy, Maliha Ikram

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.

When Sports Stand Against Human Rights: Regulating Restrictions On Athlete Speech In The Global Sports Arena, Faraz Shahlaei

Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review

Even after the International Olympic Committee’s quick and harsh response to the “black power salute” in the 1968 Olympic Games— positing that the apolitical Olympic Games were not a suitable venue for domestic political statements—athletes continued using their platform to protest human rights violations. Should such conduct be allowed? Are athletes entitled to display their political opinions on the field? Or should athletic organizations be allowed to regulate their athletes’ protests and political speech in the arena? On the one hand, freedom of speech is a fundamental human right. On the other, sports have a long history of remaining apolitical—limiting …

The Law Of Advertising Outrage, Mark Bartholomew

Journal Articles

This article examines the stimulation of audience outrage, both as a marketing strategy and as a subject of legal regulation. A brief history of advertising in the United States reveals repeated yet relatively infrequent attempts to attract consumer attention through overt transgressions of social norms relating to sex, violence, race, and religion. Natural concerns over audience reaction limited use of this particular advertising tactic as businesses needed to be careful not to alienate prospective purchasers. But now companies can engage in “algorithmic outrage”—social media advertising meant to stimulate individual feelings of anger and upset—with less concern for a consumer backlash. …

Brief Of Amici Curiae Intellectual Property Law Professors, John A. Conway, Mark Mckenna

Court Briefs

No. 18S-CQ-00134
Akeem Daniels v. Fanduel, Inc., Case No. 17-3051, The Honorable Judge Easterbrook, Circuit Judge

From the Summary of Argument

Untethered to a sufficient public policy interest, right of publicity claims have exploded nationwide. Plaintiffs have asserted claims against inspirational plaques featuring civil rights icons, Rosa and Raymond Parks Inst. for Self Dev. v. Target Corp., 812 F.3d 824 (11th Cir. 2016),artwork commemorating significant events, Moore v. Weinstein Co., LLC, 545 Fed. App’x. 405 , 407 (6th Cir. 2013); ETW Corp. v. Jireh Publ’g, Inc., 332 F.3d 915 (6th Cir. 2003), Wikipedia edits that truthfully connected an astronaut with …

Harmonizing The Tension Between The First Amendment And Publicity Rights And Finding The Right Balance: Discerning How Much Freedom Is Warranted And What Needs Protection, William Buchsbaum

The University of Cincinnati Intellectual Property and Computer Law Journal

This paper examines the tension between the First Amendment and Publicity Rights considering why and how friction is emerging, the legal underpinnings and theories behind the development of publicity rights and how to reconcile this with values raised in support of the First Amendment. This collision course of rights occurs where property interests have vested in human identity itself which brings us face to face with the outer limits of free speech and expression under the First Amendment and evens tests the notion of how we define speech. The paper takes a dive into some of the currently arising issues …

The First Amendment And Content Restrictions In State Film Incentive Programs, Dr. Joel Timmer

Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review

In recent years, many states have offered incentive programs to lure film production and its associated economic benefits—increased jobs, spending, and tourism—to their states. Several of these programs have restrictions that deny incentives based on a film’s content. For example, Texas denies film incentives to projects that have “inappropriate content” or portray “Texas or Texans in a negative way.” This article concludes that these restrictions do not violate the First Amendment. Two key considerations factor into this conclusion: First, in granting subsidies, the government may apply criteria that would be impermissible in a regulatory context. Second, the denial of a …

Fair Use And First Amendment: Without Fair Use, What Would You Freely Speak About?, Adam Blaier

Pace Intellectual Property, Sports & Entertainment Law Forum

The question this paper tries to answer is: Without fair use, what would you freely speak about? This paper will seek to demonstrate that the Copyright Clause’s Fair Use doctrine, and the First Amendment are cousins who help each other, rather than enemies sworn to destroy each other as some believe. First I will give a brief overview and history of each doctrine. Next I will speak about three areas where I believe fair use and the First Amendment cross paths extensively. These areas are: (1) school/education; (2) social media and news; and (3) sports images/broadcasting. Finally, I will demonstrate …

Fourth & Inches: Marking The Line Of Athletes’ Free Speech (A Colin Kaepernick Inspired Discussion), Ryan J. Mcginty

Pace Intellectual Property, Sports & Entertainment Law Forum

This note addresses the ongoing controversial stance that was ignited when Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the playing of the national anthem in protest of what he deems are wrongdoings against African Americans and minorities in the United States. The scope of this note does not surround Kaepernick himself, but rather the professional NFL football player in general. Specifically, players are entitled to the full rights of free expression and free speech as human beings and public figures, up and until the line where that right is abused on the field or “on the job,” thereby threatening an increase …

New York Right Of Publicity Law: Panel Discussion, Mary Lafrance

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Everyone Take A Knee And Listen Up! Examining Student-Athlete Protests During The National Anthem, Zack Zastrow

Marquette Sports Law Review

None

Municipal Wi-Fi And The Third-Party Doctrine: Rethinking An Antiquated Framework, David Forrest

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The 'Blurred Lines' Of Marvin Gaye's 'Here, My Dear': Music As A Tortious Act, Divorce Narrative And First Amendment Totem, Bryan Adamson

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Right Of Publicity: Privacy Reimagined For New York?, Jennifer Rothman

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Mediated Images Of Violence And The First Amendment: From Video Games To The Evening News, Clay Calvert, Robert D. Richards

Maine Law Review

In July 2004, a federal district court struck down, on First Amendment grounds, a Washington state law that restricted minors' access to video games containing “realistic or photographic-like depictions of aggressive conflict in which the player kills, injures, or otherwise causes physical harm to a human form in the game who is depicted, by dress or other recognizable symbols, as a public law enforcement officer.” The decision was anything but surprising. It followed in the footsteps of recent opinions issued by two federal appellate courts that held unconstitutional similar legislation regulating minors' access to fictional images of violence in video …

Sony, Cyber Security, And Free Speech: Preserving The First Amendment In The Modern World, Conrad Wilton

Pace Intellectual Property, Sports & Entertainment Law Forum

Reprinted from 16 U.C. Davis Bus. L.J. 309 (2016). This paper explores the Sony hack in 2014 allegedly launched by the North Korean government in retaliation over Sony’s production of The Interview and considers the hack’s chilling impact on speech in technology. One of the most devastating cyber attacks in history, the hack exposed approximately thirty- eight million files of sensitive data, including over 170,000 employee emails, thousands of employee social security numbers and unreleased footage of upcoming movies. The hack caused Sony to censor the film and prompted members of the entertainment industry at large to tailor their communication …

Disentangling The Right Of Publicity, Eric E. Johnson

Northwestern University Law Review

Despite the increasing importance attached to the right of publicity, its doctrinal scope has yet to be clearly articulated. The right of publicity supposedly allows a cause of action for the commercial exploitation of a person’s name, voice, or image. The inconvenient reality, however, is that only a tiny fraction of such instances are truly actionable. This Article tackles the mismatch between the blackletter doctrine and the shape of the case law, and it aims to elucidate, in straightforward terms, what the right of publicity actually is.

This Article explains how, in the absence of a clear enunciation of its …

You Can't Sit With Us: Limiting Free Speech In Sports Arenas And How The Tampa Bay Lightning Took Home Ice Advantage Too Far, Kaitlin Shire

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

"Free Speech, First Amendment, And New Media For Cons And Festivals" From Pop Culture Business Handbook For Cons And Festivals, Jon Garon

Faculty Scholarship

This article is part of a series of book excerpts from The Pop Culture Business Handbook for Cons and Festivals, which provides the business, strategy, and legal reference guide for fan conventions, film festivals, musical festivals, and cultural events.Although most events are organized by private parties, the location of these events in public venues and the crowd management issues involving free speech make First Amendment and free speech issues a critical component of event management. This excerpt provides a framework for understanding the legal and security issues involving free speech at public events.

Blog: Without Rhyme Or Reason, Meikhel M. Philogene

The Modern American

No abstract provided.