Monthly Archives: March 2011

California has a law that grants people, usually celebrities, a right to control the name and  likeness.  If someone uses another’s name, voice  or likeness without their consent that person is infringing on the celebrities’ right of publicity. A conflict develops when another uses the image of a celebrity but makes changes that amounts to an artistic expression.  The courts need to balance the right to  publicity against a First Amendment right of freedom of artistic  expression. Recognizing these competing interests the court held that “what is essentially a balancing test between the First Amendment and the right of publicity based on whether the work in question adds significant creative elements so as to be transformed into something more than a mere celebrity likeness or imitation.” More on this later.