With southern California serving as the home of many of the world’s celebrities, California is often at the front of the evolving field of publicity rights law. Here in the US, publicity rights vary from state to state, but courts in other states often look to see what California is doing when they have to make a publicity or privacy rights ruling.
California passed the “Celebrity Rights Act” (“Act”) in 1985, ensuring that the protections the state offers celebrities remain valid law. One of reasons for its passing was an earlier court case from 1979 that ruled that publicity rights did not pass to a deceased person’s heirs like copyright protections do. The Act changed this, enabling the heirs of celebrities to protect their loved one’s image even after his or her passing. In California, publicity rights exist for 70 years after one’s passing.
The Act is located in California Civil Code section 3344, which is available for viewing online. Several highlights of the Act include the following:
- Anyone who uses any aspect of a person (the Act lists name, voice, signature, photograph and likeness) without that person’s permission is liable for damages
- The victim of the infringement is eligible to receive lost profits, other damages suffered, punitive damages, attorney’s fee and court costs
- If the image or likeness of the celebrity is only incidental in the work, the court presumes there was no intent to infringe
Do you have any experience with California’s Act or with publicity rights in any other state?
Klein Trial Lawyers – Los Angeles business litigation attorneys